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Photographic 

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23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

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CIHM/ICMH 

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et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  ndcessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
iliustrent  la  m6thode. 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

KBI 


1 


THE     INDIANS     OF     TO-DAY 


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I 


I 


CHIEF  AMERICAN  HOUSE 

OGALALLA   SIOUX 


THE 


INDIANS    OF   TO-DAY 


BY 


GEORGE   BIRD  GRINNELL,  Ph.D. 

Author  of  "Pawnh  Hero  Stories  and  Folk  Tales,"  "Blackfoot  Lodge  Tales,"  "The 
Story  of  the  Indian,"  etc.,  etc. 


ILLUSTRATED  WITH  FULL-PAGE  PORTRAITS  OF  LIVING  INDIANS 


HERBERT     S.    STONE    AND     COMPANY 
CHICAGO     AND     NEW    YORK 
MDCCCC 


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KWaiJf.iT"- ■>'■--  --.~.j-Il^^-..-^|g)--^..  - 


■•-^•— ~-^™--'^!W« 


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COl'VHIOHT     I()00.    »V 
HIRIlHlir    '      9T0NI    *    <.'0 


RIGHT     UV     F       A       K.NKHARr,      OMAHA,     NEBRASKA 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   I 
Tilt  NuKTii  American  Indians i 

CHAPTER    II 
Indian  CiiAKACTtK 7 

CHAPTER    III 
Beliefs  and  Siokies 13 

CHAPTER   IV 
The  Youno  Doo's  Dance 27 

CHAPTER   V 
The  Buffalo  Wife 35 

CHAPTER   VI 
A  Blackfoot  Sun  and  Moon  Mvth 45 

CHAPTER    VII 
Former  Distribution  of  the   Indians 49 

CHAPTER   VIII 
The  Reservation  75 

CHAPTER    IX 
Lifk  on  the  Reservation 141 

CHAPTER   X 
The  Agent's  Rule 145 

CHAPTER   XI 
Education 153 

CHAPTER    XII 
Some  Difficulties 163 

CHAPTER   XIII 

The  Red  Man  and  the  White 173 

Index 177 


•^•■^--e-"!—^ H5M«wtr 


S»3SffiS5»B3S?SSBSB!?ES33!3! 


'.'■•mm 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


TOUCH  THE  CLOUD— Arapahok. 

LITTLE   "IRD— Arapahoe. 

CHIEF  WHITE  UUFFALO  —  Arapahoe. 

LITTLE  CHIEF— Arapahok. 

YELLOW  MA(;PIE  — Arapahoe. 

LITTLE  BEAR  — Arapahoe. 

BLACK  MAN  — Arapahoe. 

CHIEF  MOUNTAIN  — Black  Feet. 

THUNDER  CLOUD— Bi.AtK  Feet. 

THREE  FINGERS  — Cheyenne. 

HUBBLE  BIG  HORSE— Cheyenne. 

WHITE  BUFFALO  — Cheyenne. 

CHIEF  WOLF  ROBE  — Cheyenne. 

JOHN   MASKWAS  — PoTTAWAToMi. 

PEA-TWY-TUCK— Sac  an»  Fox. 

NAICHE  —  Chiricahua  Apache. 

BARTELDA  —  Chiricahua  Apache. 

CHIEF  GERONIMO— Chiricahua   Apache. 

CHIEF  JOSH — San  Carlos  Apache. 

NASUTEAS—  Wichita. 

CHIEF  TOWONKONIE  JIM  — Wichita. 

SIX  TOES— Kiowa. 

CHIEF  WHITE  MAN  — Kiowa. 

PABLINO  DIAZ  — Kiowa. 

PEDRO  CAJETE— Pueblo. 


Bssc;; 


'^'  v^'.''.^4F^raMmiii^nnwfnit<n*'^n*nT>'% 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  -Continued. 

EX-GOV.  JOSE  JESUS  NARANGO— Santa  Clara  Pueblo. 

GOV.   DIEGO  NARANGO— Santa  Clara  Pueblo. 

KICKING  HORSE  CHARLEY  — Flat  Head. 

ENEAS  MICHEL  — Flat  Head. 

HEAD  CHIEF  LOUISON  — Flat  Head. 

ANTOINE— Spokane. 

THE  MAN  —  Assinniboine. 

CHIEF  WETS  IT  — Assinniboine. 

KILL  SPOTTED  HORSE  — Assinniboine. 

SPIES  ON  THE  ENEMY— Crow. 

SPOTTED  JACK  RABBIT— Crow. 

MOSTEOSE  — Iowa. 

CHARLES  DIDDLE- Omaha. 

DUST  MAKER  — PoNCA. 

CHIEF  HOLLOW  HORN  BEAR— Cheyenne  River  Sioux. 

JOHN   HOLLOW  HORN  BEAR— Cheyenne  River  Sioux. 

AF"RAID  OF  EAGLE  — Lower  Brule  Sioux. 

SLEEPING  BEAR  — LowKR  Brule  Sioux. 

CHIEF  TURNING  EAGLE  — Lower  Brule  Sioux. 

PETER  IRON  SHELL  — Pine  Ridge  Sioux. 

SPOTTED  HORSE  — Pine  Ridge  Sioux. 

CHIEF  AMERICAN   HORSE  — Ogalalla  Sioux. 

EAGLE  ELK  —  Rosebud  Sioux. 

CHIEF  GOES  TO  WAR  — Rosebud  Sioux. 

POOR  DOG  — Rosebud  Sioux. 

HIGH   BEAR — Standing  Rock  Sioux. 

SWIFT  DOG— Standing  Rock  Sioux. 

CHIEF  GRANT  RICHARDS  — Tonkawa 

JOHN  WILLIAMS  — Tonkawa. 

HENRY  WILLIAMS  — Mojave  Apache. 


■iami^simf.'Uf?T9 


PREFACE 

When  I  walked  through  the  Omaha  Exposition  grounds  one  hot  day  in 
September  of  1898,  on  my  way  to  the  encampment  of  the  Indian  Congress,  I 
found  it  difificult  to  realize  that  only  fifty  years  before,  the  ground  where  Omaha 
now  stands  had  been  a  camping  place  for  Indians;  and  that  only  twenty-five 
years  ago,  Nebraska,  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  west  of  Omaha,  had  been  a 
country  dangerous  to  pass  through,  because  the  home  and  hunting  ground  of 
hostile  tribes.  All  this  has  been  forgotten  now  except  by  those  who  took  part 
in  the  old  life  of  those  times ;  and  it  was  well  that  by  such  a  gathering  as  this 
Indian  Congress  the  past  should  be  recalled  and  the  former  wild  inhabitants  of 
this  fertile  Western  State  should  be  seen  by  the  newcomers  who  have  succeeded 
them. 

To  one  who  reflected  upon  the  contrasts  here  afforded  by  the  conjunction  of 
the  two  races  the  presence  of  the  red  man  was  full  of  suggestion,  'n  its  display 
of  science  and  art,  of  invention,  machinery  and  product,  the  Exposition  stood 
for  the  bounding  present ;  it  marked  the  swelling  tide  of  the  progress  of  an 
expanding  people  ;  it  exemplified  the  attainments  of  centuries  of  development. 
And  over  against  all  this,  pathetic  in  the  contrast,  was  the  Indian  in  his  skin 
lodge,  clad  in  primitive  dress,  and  typical  of  a  diminishing  race — a  people  to 
whom  the  century  had  brought  an  utter  obliteration  of  the  old  life  and  a  change 
of  modes  of  living,  of  surroundings  and  cI  opportunities,  so  complete  and  so 
momentous  that  the  white  man  cannot  conceive  it. 

To  those  of  the  Exposition  visitors — and  they  were  many — who  recognized 
this  phase  of  the  exhibition,  the  Indian  Congress  was  something  more  than  a 
novel  entertainment  and  the  gratification  of  idle  curiosity.  It  created  interest  in 
the  Indians,  stimulated  inquiry,  and  awoke  a  desire  to  know  more  of  them,  their 
past  and  their  present,  and  the  outlook  for  their  future.  To  meet  this  interest 
and  to  supply  this  fuller  knowledge  is  the  purpose  of  the  present  volume. 

The  Indians  of  To-day — what  are  their  numbers  ?  where  do  they  live  ? 
how  do  they  subsist  ?  are  they  becoming  civilized,  educated,  learning  the  white 
man's  ways  ?  These  are  some  of  the  questions  which  intelligent  people  are 
asking  and  to  which,  so  far  as  may  be,  the  answer  is  given  in  the  pages  that 
follow.  George  Bird  Grinnell. 


-^ajB».,i,.4BW4 


T 


THE 

INDIANS   OF  TO-DAY 


CHAPTER  I 


THE   NORTH    AMERICAN    INDIANS 


When  the  white  men  first  set  foot  in  America,  they  found  it  inhabited  by  a 
people  who  were  absolutely  primitive,  and  whose  development  had  been  slow  ; 
for  although  man  had  inhabited  the  continent  for  many  thousand  years,  his 
culture  had  progressed  no  further  than  that  of  the  age  of  polished  stone.  Some 
tribes  practiced  agriculture,  and  all  gathered  the  natural  fruits  of  the  earth,  but 
they  depended  for  food  chiefly  upon  the  abundant  fish  and  game  which  swarmed 
in  the  rivers  or  on  the  uplands,  and  which  yielded  them  an  easy  subsistence. 
The  animals  were  trapped  and  snared,  and  killed  with  arrows  tipped  with  points 
of  stone  and  bone,  for  the  Indians  had  no  knowledge  of  metals.  While  many  of 
the  tribes  occupied  permanent  villages,  in  which  the  dwellings  were  mi:de  of 
earth  or  grass  or  poles,  yet  since  the  conditions  of  their  lives  obliged  them  to 
make  frequent  extended  journeys  far  from  home,  all  used  movable  tents  or 
lodges,  consisting  of  a  framework  of  slender  poles  covered  with  skin  or  bark. 
These  lodges  were  similar  in  type  over  almost  the  whole  continent.  The 
population  of  North  America  was  sparse  in  these  pre-Columbian  days;  and  we 
may  suppose  that  the  people  lived  a  contented  life,  usually  unbroken  by  wars, 
and  devoted  chiefly  to  gaining  a  subsistence. 

From  the  beginning  there  has  been  speculation  as  to  the  origin  of  the 
Indian;  but  to  this  day  no  one  has  reached  any  definite  conclusion  respecting 
this.  Some  authorities  are  quite  certain  that  his  home  must  have  been  Asia, 
while  others  believe  that  he  came  from  Europe;  but  of  when  he  came  or  how, 
nothing  is  positively  known.  Of  one  thing,  however,  we  are  certain.  The 
Indians  constitute  a  well-differentiated  race,  of  very  great  antiquity — as  men 
view  time.  Throughout  the  different  tribes  the  physical  characters  of  these 
people  are  everywhere  the  same.  These  physical  likenesses,  together  with  the 
extraordinary  diversity  of  language  found  among  them,  are  very  suggestive  of 
the  great  length  of  time  they  have  occupied  America.  To  say  nothing  of 
languages  which  have  become  extinct  without  leaving  any  record,  we  know 


■imw»w^vKo-x  -,■: 


..icr.;t-l»T::t,;, 


THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


of  between  fifty  and  sixty  distinct  linguistic  stocks  in  North  America,  north  of 
Mexico;  groups  of  languages  which  appear  to  be  as  different  from  each  other 
as  the  Semitic  is  from  the  Aryan  or  the  Turanian.  Within  a  single  linguistic 
family  we  may  have  a  number  of  tribes  speaking  different  languages  :  as  in  the 
Algonquian  family,  the  Ojibwas,  Blackfeet,  Cheyennes  and  Arapahoes  speak 
four  different  tongues,  each  uncomprehended  by  the  others  ;  just  as  four 
Europeans  of  Aryan  family  might  speak  English,  Spanish,  German  and  Russian. 
It  must  have  taken  a  long  time  for  these  different  linguistic  stocks  to  become 
developed. 

For  a  long  time  the  settlement  of  the  country  by  the  whites  made  but  little 
impression  on  the  tribes  that  lived  remote  from  the  seaboard,  and  it  is  only  since 
the  completion  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  that  the  power  of  the  white  man 
has  been  brought  hoi.ie  to  the  tribes  that  wandered  over  the  great  plains  and  the 
mountains  of  the  farther  Weit.  For  one  hundred  years  before  that,  the  Indians 
of  many  tribes  had  possessed  horses  and  metal  knives  ar  '.  sheet-iron  arrow- 
points,  and  the  task  of  securing  food  had  thus  been  made  easier  for  them,  but 
beyond  this  the  coming  of  the  white  man  had  worked  little  change  in  their  ways 
of  life. 

When  the  railroad  entered  his  country,  its  whistle  sounded  the  beginning  of 
the  end  of  the  Indian's  old  life.  This  was  not  so  much  because  the  railroad 
brought  the  white  man  into  actual  contact  with  the  Indian  as  because  it  at  once 
opened  a  market  for  the  hides  and  furs  of  the  animals  on  which  he  subsisted,  the 
buffalo,  the  elk,  the  deer  and  the  antelope,  and  because,  to  supply  the  demand 
for  the  skins  of  these  animals,  white  hunters  proceeded  at  once  to  exterminate 
them,  and  thus  soon  deprived  the  Indian  of  his  natural  food.  Within  a  few 
years  the  savage  found  that  the  prairie  no  longer  yielded  him  a  living,  and  that 
if  he  would  escape  star/ation  he  must  present  himself  at  the  agency  to  receive 
his  weekly  ration  of  beef.  This,  then,  was  the  beginning  of  the  Indian  problem 
as  we  know  it  to-day — a  problem  of  civilization,  of  assimilation,  wholly  different 
from  the  old  war  problem,  which  was  settled  once  and  for  all  with  the 
disappearance  of  the  buffalo. 

Up  to  that  time,  the  Indians  of  the  Western  plains  had  followed  the  buffalo 
herds  from  place  to  place,  in  the  earliest  times  capturing  the  game  by  means  of 
surrounds,  or  by  leading  them  into  traps.  After  they  obtained  horses,  they  ran 
the  buffalo,  the  rider  forcing  his  steed  close  to  the  animal's  side  and  driving  the 
arrow  into  it  with  his  powerful  bow,  or  thrusting  his  lance  deep  into  its  vitals. 
The  meat  was  dried  in  the  sun,  and  served  to  tide  over  those  periods  when  no 
game  could  be  had. 

Perhaps  no  event  has  ever  happened  to  a  people  that  worked  a  greater 
change  in  their  methods  of  life  than  did  the  acquisition  of  horses  for  the  Indians. 


i 


THE   NORTH   AMERICAN   INDIANS  3 

Until  these  strange  beasts  came  to  them,  all  journeyings  had  been  on  foot,  for 
their  only  domestic  animal  was  the  dog,  on  which  they  used  to  pack  light  loads, 
and  which  dragged  the  primitive  travois.  Most  of  their  possessions,  however, 
they  transported  on  their  own  backs,  men,  women  and  children  alike  carrying 
packs  proportionate  to  their  strength.  But  when  the  horse  came,  all  this  was 
changed.  On  a  sudden,  they  had  a  beast  of  burden  which  would  transport  not 
only  their  possessions,  but  themselves,  and  which  enabled  them  with  slight  effort 
to  cover  such  distances  as  before  they  had  not  dreamed  of.  Here  was  at  once  a 
freedom  which  they  had  never  known.  If  they  had  enemies,  they  could  swiftly 
ride  long  distances  to  attack  them,  and  as  swiftly  ride  away.  Thus  the  possession 
of  horses  stimulated  the  tribes  to  wars  with  their  neighbors,  and  wrought  a  most 
important  change  in  the  character  of  the  people. 

In  his  old  wild  life  the  Indian  was  one  of  the  most  active  of  beings.  He  was 
forced  to  work  hard  to  obtain  his  food  from  day  to  day;  or  if  food  was  abundant, 
his  ambition — a  desire  for  the  approval  of  his  fellows — led  him  to  go  continually 
on  the  warpath.  Thus  he  was  lean,  sinewy  and  tough,  living  a  wholesome 
natural  existence,  and  always  in  the  best  of  training.  Those  who  reached 
maturity  were  literally  the  fittest  of  their  race,  for  no  weakling  child  survived  the 
hardship  and  exposure  of  the  primitive  life.  When  the  Indian  was  obliged  to 
give  over  his  wanderings  and  to  become  sedentary,  a  change  took  place  in  his 
physical  condition.  He  ceased  to  be  a  worker,  and  sat  about  doing  nothing.  He 
no  longer  had  any  ambition,  but  brooded  over  the  past.  New  conditions  of  life 
arose.  He  began  to  live  in  houses,  and  he  and  his  children  no  longer  subsisted 
on  the  flesh  of  the  buffalo,  but  were  obliged  to  accustom  themselves  to  a  diet 
which  was  largely  vegetable.  The  changed  conditions  had  a  marked  effect  on 
his  health.  He  became  less  able  to  resist  disease,  and  contact  with  the  whites 
brought  to  him  new  maladies  a  thousand  times  more  fatal  than  those  he  had 
formerly  known.  In  the  transition  stage  between  a  life  passed  wholly  in  tents 
and  one  altogether  in  houses,  and  between  a  diet  exclusively  of  fresh  meat  and 
one  largely  vegetable,  the  race  suffered  severely,  and  the  death-rate  became  far 
heavier  than  it  had  been  under  ordinary  conditions  in  the  old  time.  But  when 
the  Indians  had  become  thoroughly  habituated  to  the  new  mode  of  life,  the 
death-rate  again  became  lower,  so  that  now  some  tribes  are  said  to  be  increasing 
in  numbers. 

Among  the  many  Indian  tribes  cared  for  by  the  government,  there  are 
different  degrees  of  progress.  Some  are  as  untaught  to-day  as  they  were  twenty 
years  ago;  others,  who  have  had  their  well-being  looked  after  and  who  have  had 
more  intelligent  guidance,  have  made  long  strides  toward  self-support.  All  are 
wrestling  with  problems  of  which  they  know  little  or  nothing,  and  are  perplexed 
and  discouraged.    While  marked  improvements  have  taken  place  in  the  Indian 


THE  INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


if' 


service  of  late  years,  the  same  old  methods,  long  since  known  to  be  inefficient, 
are  practiced  in  carintj  for  them.  It  is  not  enough  to  furnish  a  tribe  of  Indians 
subsistence,  an  agent  to  look  after  them,  and  a  few  white  employees  to  assist 
them.  Unless  they  have  more  than  that,  no  tribe  will  ever  make  much  progress 
toward  self-support.  As  Indians  are  only  grown-up  children,  they  must  be 
taught,  as  children  are  taught,  all  the  knowledge  which  is  unconsciously  absorbed 
by  the  white  man  from  his  early  associations  and  his  reading.  Until  the  men 
employed  in  the  field  servic<'  of  the  Indian  Bureau  shall  be  sufficiently  intelligent 
to  understand  the  mental  attitude  of  the  Indian,  and  sufficiently  interested  to 
give  special  attention  to  this,  his  advancement  must  necessarily  be  slow.  And  if 
it  is  slow,  this  is  only  because  we  do  not  see  that  men  are  chosen  for  this  service 
who  are  competent  to  teach  the  Indians  how  to  live  in  our  way,  and  to  convey  to 
the  savage  man  of  the  Stone  Age  development  the  intelligence  of  the  civilized 
man  of  the  present  day. 

To-day  the  Indian  understands  that  he  must  work  to  live,  but  in  many  cases 
it  is  demanded  of  him  that  he  shall  make  bricks  without  straw.  He  is  asked  to 
support  himself,  but  is  given  no  tools  to  work  with.  Some  tribes  have  had 
cattle  issued  to  them,  but  little  has  been  done  to  teach  them  how  to  care  for  their 
cattle,  and  the  work  with  them  which  the  agency  employees  are  supposed  to  do 
is  frequently  altogether  neglected.  We  blame  the  Indians  because  they  have 
not  by  this  time  become  civilized,  but  in  fact  the  fault  is  ours  and  that  of  our 
representatives  in  Congress,  for  assenting  to  a  system  which  places  the  Indians 
in  charge  of  men  some  of  whom  are  unintelligent,  inefficient,  careless  and  some- 
times criminal. 

In  many  respects  conditions  are  much  better  now  than  they  used  to  be.  The 
Indian  Bureau  struggles  hard  to  improve  matters,  but  is  hampered  by  old 
methods  and  traditions,  and  above  all  by  the  manner  in  which  a  large  number  of 
the  Indian  agents  are  chosen.  The  condition  of  the  Indians  will  not  greatly 
improve  until  the  agents  are  selected  because  of  actual  qualifications  for  their 
work,  instead  of  receiving  the  position  as  a  reward  for  political  services 
performed. 

Moreover,  when  an  agent  has  proved  himself  efficient,  he  should  be 
continued  in  his  position  so  long  as  his  services  are  acceptable,  and  he  is  willing 
to  remain.  Frequent  changes  of  agents  hamper  the  Indian  service  and  retard 
the  advance  of  the  people,  for  each  new  man  who  takes  charge  of  an  agency  is 
obliged  to  acquaint  himself  with  the  conditions  there,  to  learn  the  idiosyncrasies 
of  this  particular  tribe  and  to  acquire  their  confidence.  Often  almost  as  soon  as 
he  has  done  this  he  is  removed  to  make  room  for  a  new  man  who,  however  good 
his  intentions,  must  of  course  begin  at  the  foundation  to  learn  what  is  required 
in  this  particular  place. 


n 


-i 

I 

1 


IS 


TOrCll  Till".  CI-Ol'D 

ARAI'AIIOK 


THE  NORTH  AMERICAN  INDIANS  5 

There  is  probably  not  a  tribe  in  the  United  States  which  could  not,  under 
the  direction  of  the  right  man,  become  entirely  self-supporting  within  ten  years, 
but  It  would  be  necessary  that  those  tribes  which  to-day  are  absolutely  without 
property — as  the  Northern  Cheyennes — should  be  given  a  start  in  some  way. 
Thus  these  Cheyennes — to  take  a  specific  example — who  live  in  a  country  which 
is  too  dry  for  farming,  yet  is  a  good  stock  range,  ought  to  have  issued  to  them  as 
their  individual  property  one  thousand  five  hundred  head  of  cattle,  and  to  be 
taught  how  to  manage  this  live  stock.  The  continual  agitation  by  the  neighbor- 
ing white  population  of  the  question  of  this  tribe's  removal  to  some  other  part  of 
the  West,  ought  to  be  put  an  end  to,  and  the  title  of  their  lands  to  be  confirmed. 
In  the  same  way  the  condition  of  each  individual  tribe  should  be  studied,  and  it 
should  be  treated  according  to  its  needs. 

Usually  no  prejudice  exists  against  the  individual  Indian  when  he  is  brought 
into  contact  with  white  people,  but  against  a  body  of  them — as  a  tribe  located  on 
a  reservation — there  is  almost  always  a  very  strong  antagonism  among  the 
adjacent  population.  As  a  rule,  this  prejudice  is  not  felt  by  such  Western  people 
as  have  had  dealings  with  the  Indians,  and  so  know  them,  but  only  by  those  who, 
though  their  neighbors,  have  never  been  brought  in  direct  contact  with  them.  I 
believe  that  this  prejudice  is  less  strong  than  it  was  a  few  years  ago,  and  that 
ultimately  it  will  cease  to  exist.  Thus,  in  the  future — provided  intelligent  effort 
shall  be  expended  in  teaching  the  Indians  how  to  think  like  white  men,  how 
to  work  and  how  to  labor  to  the  best  advantage — they  may  become  a  "elf- 
supporting  and  self-respecting  part  of  our  population. 

The  history  of  the  intercourse  between  the  white  race  and  the  red,  if  studied, 
will  lead  the  thoughtful  American  to  feel  that  some  consideration  is  due  from  us 
to  them.  If  we  can  divest  ourselves  of  prejudice — a  hard  thing  to  do — we  must 
acknowledge  that  the  Indians  ought  to  be  treated  honestly,  and  therefore  justly, 
as  they  have  never  yet  been  treated.  Our  prejudice  against  the  race  is  merely 
that  of  an  enemy.  In  fighting,  in  massacres  and  surprises,  in  the  treatment  of 
the  dead  who  have  fallen  in  battle,  we  who  are  civilized  have  little  to  boast  of 
over  those  who  are  savages.  The  stories  of  the  Chivington  fight,  of  the  Dull 
Knife  outbreak  at  Fort  Robinson,  and  of  the  Baker  affair  in  Montana,  where  of 
the  one  hundred  and  seventy-six  unoffending  Piegan  Indians  killed  in  the 
surprised  smallpox-stricken  camp  only  eighteen  were  fighting-men  and  the  rest 
old  men,  women  and  little  children,  show  that  there  are  two  sides  of  the  history 
of  Indian  warfare. 

We  may  say  that  all  the  ill  treatment  of  Indians  could  not  have  been 
avoided;  that  savagery  must  yield  to  civilization;  that  the  fittest  will  survive  and 
the  weakest  go  to  the  wall.  If  all  this  be  true,  it  is  also  true  that  this  nation  is 
old  enough  to  lay  aside  the  prejudices  of  its  childhood  and,  with  the  beginning 


I 


6  TMK   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 

of  the  new  century,  to  commence  to  treat  the  Indian  intellii;ently,  which  only 
means  fairly.  With  a  few  years  of  such  treatment,  a  moderate  investment  to 
enable  the  poorest  of  the  tribes  to  make  a  step  toward  tj-iinint;  a  livelihood 
would  soon  be  repaid  Tn  the  reduction  of  appropriations  for  Indian  support. 
From  all  points  of  view,  we  should  have  a  chan({e. 


I 


LITTl.K  BIRD 

ARAPAHOE 


CHAPTER   II 


INDIAN   CHARACTER 


The  Indian  has  the  mind  of  a  child  in  the  body  of  an  adult.  The  stru^i^Ie 
for  existence  weeded  out  the  weak  and  the  sickly,  the  slow  and  the  stupid,  and 
created  a  race  physically  perfect,  and  mentally  fitted  to  cope  with  the  conditions 
which  they  were  forced  to  meet,  so  long  as  they  were  left  to  themselves.  When, 
however,  they  encountered  the  white  race;,  equipped  with  the  mental  training 
and  accumulated  wisdom  of  some  thousands  of  years,  they  were  compelled  to 
face  a  new  set  of  conditions.  The  balance  of  nature,  which  had  been  well 
enough  maintained  so  long  as  nature  ruled,  was  rudely  disturbed  when  civilized 
man  appeared  on  the  scene.  His  improved  tools  and  implements  gave  him  an 
enormous  advantage  over  the  Indian,  but  this  advantage  counted  for  but  little  in 
comparison  with  the  mental  superiority  of   he  civilized  man  over  the  savage. 

People  who  have  no  knowledge  of  Indians  imagine  them  to  be  merely 
ignorant  people,  like  uneducated  individuals  of  the  white  race — perhaps  like  the 
peasantry  of  Europe — and  liken  them  to  the  poorest  of  the  Italian,  Polish  and 
Russian  immigrants  to  this  country.  They  suppose  that  if  the  Indian  were 
willing  to  take  a  spade  and  shovel  dirt,  and  to  send  his  children  to  school,  the 
whole  great  problem  of  his  progress  would  be  solved  at  once  and  the  race  would 
become  a  self-supporting  part  of  the  population  of  the  United  States,  able  to 
hold  its  own  in  the  competition  which  is  becoming  more  and  more  a  feature  of 
American  life. 

This  is  not  the  case.  The  Indian  is  not  like  the  white  m-  n  of  any  class  or 
condition ;  because  his  mind  does  not  work  like  the  mind  of  the  adult  white  man. 
The  difference  which  exists  in  mental  attitude  does  not  imply  that  the  Indian  is 
intellectually  feeble,  for  when  the  young  Indian  is  separated  from  his  tribe  and 
is  brought  up  in  association  with  white  people,  and  so  has  an  opportunity  to  have 
his  mind  trained  to  civilized  modes  of  thinking  and  to  imbibe  civilized  ideas,  he 
is  found  to  be  not  less  intelligent  than  the  average  white.  The  difference  in 
mind  means  merely  that  the  Indian,  like  every  other  human  being,  receives  his 
knowledge  and  his  mental  training  from  his  surroundings.  The  boy,  who  is 
brought  up  in  the  camp  and  associates  constantly  with  his  own  race,  sets  up  for 
his  standard  c  f  wisdom  and  learning  the  old  and  wise  men  of  the  tribe  who 
obtained  their  position  of  precedence  in  the  old  days  of  war  and  hunting  and 
who,  of  course,  were  born  and  reared  in  savagery.  His  ideas  thus  take  their 
tone  from  the  old  people  whom  he  is  taught  should  be  his  examples,  and  will  not 

7 


8 


THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


be  very  different  from  theirs.  He  will  think  as  they  think,  and  employ  the  same 
reasoning?  processes  that  they  do.  There  will  be  some  slight  advance  in  thought 
brought  about  by  the  rapid  changes  of  modern  times,  which  must  of  necessity 
have  some  effect  on  those  who  observe  them,  but  as  many  of  these  changes  are 
not  at  all  comprehended  by  the  Indians,  the  advance  will  be  slow. 

I  have  said  that  the  Indian's  mind  is  that  of  a  child,  and  by  this  I  mean  that 
it  is  a  mind  in  many  respects  unused,  and  absolutely  without  training  as  regards  all 
matters  which  have  to  do  with  civilized  life.  The  Indian  is  a  close  observer,  and 
in  respect  to  things  with  which  he  is  familiar — which  are  within  the  range  of  his 
common  experience — he  draws  conclusions  that  are  entirely  just — so  eiccurate  in 
fact  as  to  astonish  the  white  man  who  is  here  on  unknown  ground.  But  in 
matters  which  are  not  connected  with  the  ordinary  happenings  of  his  daily  life 
he  is  wholly  unable  to  reason,  because  he  has  no  knowledge  on  which  reasoning 
may  be  based. 

Bearing  in  mind  that  the  Indian  in  the  last  days  of  his  free  wandering  was 
undeveloped  and  not  greatly  changed  from  the  grown  up  child  of  primitive 
times,  let  us  consider  what  were  some  of  his  characteristics. 

As  his  very  existence  depended  on  his  procuring  food,  he  was  industrious  in 
seeking  and  securing  it.  As  wealth  was  to  be  gained  and  fame  acquired  by  going 
on  the  war  path,  he  worked  hard  on  his  journeys  to  war,  not  only  undergoing 
the  severest  fatigues,  but  exposing  himself  to  death  at  the  hands  of  his  enemies. 
The  woman's  work  was  never  done  ;  household  cares,  preparing  clothing  for 
the  family  and  the  labor  of  frequent  moving  kept  her  busy  most  of  the  time. 

In  his  own  tribe  and  among  his  own  people,  he  was  honest,  adhering  closely 
to  the  truth  in  conversation.  About  matters  concerning  which  he  had  no 
positive  knowledge,  he  was  always  careful  to  qualify  his  statements,  so  that  it 
never  might  be  said  of  him  that  his  talk  was  not  straight,  or  that  he  had  two 
tongues.  Theft  was  unknown  in  an  Indian  camp.  There  was  nothing  to  steal, 
and  if  there  had  been,  there  was  no  desire  on  the  part  of  any  one  to  take  it. 
This  was  a  temptation  to  which  in  his  own  home  he  was  never  exposed.  If  any  one 
found  a  piece  of  property  which  appeared  to  have  no  owner,  the  finder  commu- 
nicated his  discovery  to  the  camp  crier,  who  shouted  the  news  through  the  camp, 
so  that  the  owner  of  the  lost  article  might  know  where  to  go  to  recover  it.  But 
no  question  ever  entered  his  mind  as  to  the  propriety  of  taking  property  from  an 
enemy.  The  most  praiseworthy  thing  he  could  do  was  to  capture  from  the  foe 
any  possession  which  he  desired  and  they  valued;  these  were  genuinely  the  spoils 
of  war.  Even  when  war  was  not  in  active  operation — as,  for  example,  during 
a  pretended  peace — it  was  equally  creditable  to  spoil  the  enemy,  provided  it 
could  be  done  without  detection  and  risk. 

The  tribal  life  pointed  in  the  direction  of  community  of  property  in  the  wild 


f 


■w 


J- 

4 


CHIEF  WHITE  BUFFALO 

ARAPAHOE 


II 


INDIAN  CHARACTER  9 

creatures  or  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  on  which  they  subsisted  and  which  were  to  be 
had  for  the  taking.  Such  common  ownership,  while  perhaps  seldom  expressed, 
was  tacitly  acknowledged  with  regard  to  food. 

This  in  some  degree  explains  the  universal  hospitality  in  an  Indian  camp. 
Those  who  killed  food  did  so  not  merely  to  supply  their  own  wants,  but  that  the 
general  public  might  eat.  In  certain  tribes,  those  who  did  the  actual  killing 
might  have  some  special  advantage,  as  the  possession  of  the  skin  or  a  choice 
part  of  the  meat,  but — except  in  times  of  great  scarcity— food  was  always  to  be 
had  from  a  successful  hunting  party  for  the  asking.  So  among  the  tribes  of  the 
plains,  if  buffalo  were  driven  into  the  slaughter  pen,  all  were  at  liberty  to  enter 
and  supply  their  wants.  Among  the  tribes  of  the  Northwest  Coast,  if  a  whale  was 
killed,  or  found  cast  up  on  the  beach,  it  did  not  belong  to  those  only  who  had 
killed  or  found  it,  but  all  members  of  the  tribe  were  free  to  help  themselves  to 
what  they  needed.  No  matter  how  great  the  scarcity  of  food  might  be,  so  long 
as  there  was  any  remaining  in  the  lodge,  the  visitor  received  his  share  without 
grudging.  It  might  often  be  the  case  that  fathers  and  mothers  would  deprive 
themselves  of  food  that  their  little  ones  might  eat,  but  if  this  was  done  it  was  a 
voluntary  act  on  their  part,  and  did  not  lessen  the  supply  to  others  in  the  lodge. 

Another  characteristic  was  fidelity  to  friends.  The  intimacies  which  so 
frequently  existed  between  two  boys  or  two  girls,  perhaps  first  formed  when  they 
were  very  small  children,  were  likely  to  last  through  middle  life  and  even  to  old 
age,  and  were  not  mterrupted  except  for  some  good  reason,  as  the  incidents  of 
marriage,  the  division  of  the  village  or  some  other  unavoidable  cause.  In  case 
of  need,  such  friends  would  literacy  give  their  lives  for  each  other. 

The  common  belief  that  the  Indian  is  stoical,  stolid  or  sullen  is  altogether 
erroneous.  They  are  really  a  merry  people,  good-natured,  and  jocular,  usually 
ready  to  laugh  at  an  amusing  incident  or  a  joke,  with  a  simple  mirth  that 
reminds  one  of  children. 

The  respect  shown  for  one  another  in  their  assemblages  is  a  noteworthy 
characteristic.  Such  consideration  for  the  rights  of  others  is  a  natural  and 
necessary  outgrowth  of  the  development  of  any  community.  This  development 
not  only  taught  the  Indian  consideration  for  his  fellows,  but  also  self-control  in 
his  dealings  with  them,  so  that  in  the  camp  quarrels  were  extremely  rare. 

When,  however,  quarrels  did  occur,  the  parties  to  them  were  likely  to  be 
difficult  to  control,  for  each  would  be  as  unreasonable  as  a  child,  seeing  only 
from  his  own  point  of  view,  and  acknowledging  no  justification  on  the  pait  of  the 
other.  Such  quarrels,  however,  were  usually  one-sided,  and  sometimes  resulted 
in  a  revenge  which  took  the  form  of  the  destruction  of  property,  or  very  rarely 
in  murder.  Murder  was  usually  followed  by  either  the  death  of  the  murderer,  or 
his  flight;  or  at  least  by  a  total  loss  of  influence,  and  social  ostracism.     I  have 


lO 


THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


known  of  more  than  one  case  where  a  chief  or  principal  man  had  killed  a  member 
of  his  tribe,  sometimes  being  obliged  to  do  it  in  order  to  protect  his  own  life,  or 
that  of  others;  but  in  almost  all  instances  the  man  who  thus  had  taken  the 
life  of  one  of  his  tribesmen,  has  sunk  from  a  position  of  influence  to  a  point 
where  he  was  avoided  by  all  the  members  of  the  tribe. 

The  Indian,  who  went  to  war  merely  for  the  general  purpose  of  accumulating 
property  or  acquiring  glory,  wished  to  inflict  on  his  enemy  as  much  harm  as 
possible,  without  exposing  himself  to  any  special  danger.  Yet  the  wish  to  do 
injury  to  an  enemy  was  general  rather  than  specific,  and  in  a  particular  case  the 
warrior's  heart  was  often  open  to  pity,  so  that  a  victim  would  be  spared  instead 
of  being  killed,  or  a  captive  enemy  would  be  furnished  with  a  horse,  provisions 
and  arms,  and  set  free  to  return  in  safety  to  his  tribe.  On  the  other  hand,  if 
some  special  injury  had  been  done  to  a  family,  a  village,  or  a  tribe — if  some  one 
had  been  killed  or  made  captive — the  friends  and  relatives  of  the  victim  would 
do  anything  to  satisfy  their  longing  for  revenge  on  the  offending  tribe.  If  one 
of  that  tribe  should  be  killed,  they  might  cut  his  body  apart,  and  hanging  the 
pieces  on  poles,  dance  about  them  in  triumph  for  weeks  or  months.  If  one  of 
the  enemy  should  be  taken  alive,  he  might  be  subjected  to  the  most  cruel  tortures. 
Occasionally  men  made  regular  business  of  going  to  war,  not  for  the  purpose 
of  injuring  the  enemy,  but  merely  to  accumulate  greater  possessions,  just  as 
with  us  in  former  times  privateering  was  engaged  in  for  the  actual  profit  to  be 
derived  from  preying  on  the  vessels  of  the  enemy.  Parties  on  such  expeditions 
sometimes  took  especial  pains  to  escape  encounters  with  the  enemy,  and 
looked  upon  fighting  as  a  trouble  that  was  to  be  avoided  if  possible. 

Big  Foot,  a  Northern  Cheyenne  still  living,  was  in  his  day  a  famous  warrior, 
and  made  a  constant  practice  of  going  on  the  war  path  to  capture  horses,  but 
though  of  undoubted  bravery,  he  would  never  fight  the  enemy  if  he  could  avoid 
it.  An  incident  which  exemplifies  this  is  still  told  of  him  in  the  tribe  with  much 
amusement.  On  one  occasion  a  war  party  to  which  he  belonged  charged  a 
number  of  the  enemy,  who  fled.  Big  Foot,  who  was  on  a  horse  of  great 
swiftness,  observed  that  one  of  the  enemy  was  riding  a  beautiful  horse  which 
also  seemed  especially  fast,  and  he  was  seized  with  a  great  longing  to  possess  it. 
After  a  long  chase  he  overtook  the  fugitive,  but  instead  of  trying  to  kill  him,  or 
knock  him  out  of  the  saddle,  he  threw  his  rope  over  his  enemy's  head,  dragged 
him  from  his  seat,  and  then  letting  the  man  go,  simply  took  the  horse. 

The  Indian  was  brave,  but  fought  in  his  own  way.  In  his  war  journeys  he 
was  subtle  and  crafty  as  the  wolf  or  the  panther,  and  for  success  depended 
largely  on  discovering  the  presence  of  the  enemy,  and  making  the  attack  before 
the  enemy  knew  he  was  near.  He  modeled  his  warfare  after  the  plan  of  the 
other  wild  creatures  among  which  he  lived ;  as  the  panther  creeps  up  within 


INDIAN  CHARACTER 


II 


ts  he 

jided 

Ifore 

the 

Ithin 


springing  distance  of  the  unsuspecting  deer,  so  the  Indian  crawled  through  the 
grass,  or  the  thicket,  or  the  ravine,  until  within  striking  distance  of  his  unwitting 
enemy  ;  and  then  making  himself  as  terrible  as  possible  by  his  yells  and  whoops, 
he  fell  upon  the  victim  before  he  could  prepare  any  defense. 

The  Indian  of  old  times  would  have  regarded  as  a  lunatic  the  warrior  who 
under  ordinary  conditions  of  the  war  path  should  permit  his  enemy  to  become 
aware  of  his  presence  and  should  challenge  him  to  combat  on  equal  terms.  It  is 
true  that  such  duels  sometimes  took  place,  but  they  were  only  between  great 
warriors,  and  were  usually  in  the  presence  of  two  contending  parties,  by  whom 
it  had  been  agreed  that  the  fate  of  the  battle  should  rest  on  a  single  champion. 
Under  another  set  of  circumstances  the  warrior,  who  for  any  reason  no  longer 
cared  to  live,  and  wished  to  die  a  glorious  death,  sometimes  set  out  on  the  war 
path  with  the  avowed  purpose  of  being  killed.  In  such  a  case  he  would  take 
none  of  the  usual  precautions  of  war,  but  exposing  himself  without  any  attempt 
at  defense,  would  ride  to  death,  endeavoring  before  it  came  to  inflict  as  much 
injury  as  possible  on  the  enemy. 

An  example  of  conduct  prompted  by  this  feeling  is  shown  in  the  Pawnee 
story  of  Lone  Chief,  and  also  in  the  experience  of  the  young  Cheyenne  warrior 
Sun's  Road,  as  he  told  it  to  me  years  ago.     He  said: 

"  It  was  long  ago,  when  I  was  still  unmarried,  that  I  had  had  for  a  long  time 
a  sore  knee,  badly  swollen  and  painful.  It  had  hurt  and  troubled  me  for  more 
than  two  years,  and  I  thought  that  it  would  kill  me.  I  .aid  to  my  father,  '  Now 
pretty  soon,  I  am  going  to  die.  When  I  die,  do  not  put  me  in  the  ground  and 
cover  me  with  earth.     I  want  you  to  put  me  in  a  lodge  on  a  bed  and  leave  me  there.' 

"  My  father  said,  '  My  son,  you  must  not  die  in  that  way.  That  will  not  be 
good.  Instead,  I  will  fit  you  out  properly,  and  you  shall  go  to  war,  and  give 
your  body  to  the  enemy.  Ride  right  in  and  count  the  first  coup,  and  let  them 
kill  you.     Then  you  will  die  bravely  and  well.' 

"  Not  long  after  this  a  war  party  was  gotten  up  by  Big  Foot  to  go  against 
the  Omahas,  and  I  joined  it.  My  father  gave  me  his  best  horse ;  it  was  the 
fastest  one  in  the  party.  I  was  finely  dressed  and  nicely  painted,  and  my  hair 
was  combed  and  smoothly  braided  so  that  I  might  look  well  and  die  bravely. 

"  When  we  got  down  toward  the  country  of  the  Omahas,  our  scout  one  day 
returned  very  soon,  and  told  us  that  he  had  found  the  enemy  close  by.  Just 
beyond  a  nearby  hill  they  were  butchering,  where  they  had  made  a  surround  and 
killed  buffalo.  All  our  party  started  for  the  Omahas,  but  when  we  came  in  sight 
of  the  place  where  they  had  been,  we  could  see  no  one.  They  had  finished 
cutting  up  their  meat  and  had  gone.  As  we  sat  there  considering  what  we 
should  do,  one  of  the  party  looked  off  down  a  little  creek,  and  saw  two  men 
standing  by  their  horses  fixing  their  loads  of  meat. 


12 


THE  INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


"We  charged  them.  The  two  Omahas  jumped  on  their  horses,  left  their 
meat  and  ran.  I  had  the  fastest  horse  of  all  the  Chcyennes,  and  was  ahead  of  all 
the  rest.  I  was  intending  to  do  as  my  father  had  told  me.  As  I  rode,  I  saw  that 
one  of  the  Omahas  had  a  flint-lock  gun,  and  the  other  a  bow  and  arrows,  and  as  I 
was  coming  up  with  them,  I  saw  the  one  who  had  the  gun  raise  the  pan  cover 
and  pour  in  some  powder  to  make  a  sure  fire.  Then  he  began  to  sing,  and  made 
signs  to  me  to  come  on.     I  had  no  gun,  only  a  bow  and  arrows  and  a  quirt. 

"  The  two  Omahas  rode  side  by  side  and  pretty  close  together,  and  I  thought 
that  1  would  ride  in  between  them,  count  coup  on  the  one  that  had  the  gun,  and 
give  them  both  a  chance  to  kill  me.  I  did  not  wish  to  live.  All  the  time  I  was 
catching  up  to  them,  and  soon  I  ran  right  in  between  them,  and  raised  the  whip 
stock  to  hit  the  one  who  had  the  gun.  Just  as  I  was  about  to  do  this  the  Omaha 
twisted  around  on  his  horse,  and  thrust  the  muzzle  of  the  gun  so  close  to  me 
that  it  touched  my  war  shirt,  and  pulled  the  trigger.  The  gun  snapped,  and  did 
not  go  off ;  and  as  it  snapped,  I  brought  my  whip  handle  down  on  his  head,  and 
almost  knocked  him  off  his  horse,  but  he  caught  the  mane  and  recovered.  The 
other  man,  on  my  left,  shot  with  his  bow  over  his  right  shoulder,  and  the  arrow 
went  close  to  my  ear  ;  I  could  hear  it.  Then  I  rode  on  by  them,  and  the  rest  of 
the  party  came  up  and  killed  them  both. 

"  At  the  Omaha  camp  they  heard  the  shooting  when  these  two  were  killed, 
and  many  of  the  Omahas  came  out,  and  we  had  a  big  fight.  We  killed  one  more 
Omaha.     Then  we  went  home. 

"  When  we  got  home  to  the  main  village,  and  what  we  had  done  had  been 
told,  my  father  was  glad.  He  was  so  glad  that  he  gave  away  all  the  horses  he 
owned.  He  said  to  me,  '  My  son,  you  have  been  to  war  and  given  your  body  to 
the  enemy,  and  you  have  lived.  Now,  my  son,  you  will  live  to  be  an  old  man. 
You  will  never  be  killed.'  Then  my  father  went  out,  and  walked  about  through 
the  village  and  prayed,  calling  out  and  saying,  to  He  amma-wihio:* 

" '  I  gave  you  my  son,  but  you  took  pity  on  me  and  sent  him  back  to  me 
alive  to  live  on  the  earth,  and  now  he  shall  live  a  long  life.' 

"Then  he  shouted  out  and  called  different  people  to  him,  and  gave  away  his 
horses,  one  after  another,  giving  one  to  each  person,  and  telling  each  one  the 
story  of  what  I  had  done." 

The  Indian,  being  a  natural  soldier,  quickly  learned,  during  his  wars  with 
the  white  troops,  that  there  was  sometimes  much  advantage  in  fighting  in  the 
white  man's  way,  and  when  this  lesson  had  been  learned,  he  practiced  it  with 
such  good  effect  as  to  impress  upon  the  white  enemy  whom  he  met  in  battle,  a 
wholesome  respect  for  his  courage. 

*He  amma-wibio,  the  principal  god  of  tbt  Cbeyenocs;  literally,  intelligence  on  bigb. 


m 


ars  with 

fg  in  the 

it  with 

I  battle,  a 


LlTTLli  CHIEF 

ARAPAHOE 


CHAPTER  III 


BELIEFS   AND  STORIES 


It  is  not  easy  for  a  white  man,  unless  he  has  had  some  special  training,  to 
place  himself  on  a  level  with  the  Indian,  and  learn  how  he  thinks.  Yet  this  must 
be  done  before  we  can  understand  him.  To  fully  comprehend  him,  the  investi- 
gator must  cast  aside  all  that  he  has  been  taught,  and  all  that  he  has  absorbed 
since  childhood,  must  cease  to  be  artificial  and  become  natural,  must  move  his 
point  of  view  from  that  of  civilization  back  to  that  of  barbarism.  He  must 
become  for  a  time  a  savage,  and  live  with  savages  in  their  smoke-blackened 
lodges.  Such  a  life  is  interesting,  and  much  of  it  is  picturesque.  If  one  takes 
part  with  them  in  their  daily  lives,  sitting  with  chem  pbout  the  fire,  eating  and 
smoking  with  them,  listening  to  the  solemn  prayers  which  they  offer  when  they 
light  the  pipe,  and  joining  with  eye,  ear  and  voice  in  the  conversation  that 
passes  between  those  who  form  the  circle,  he  will  gain  an  insight  into  a  life  and 
a  method  of  thought  that  he  did  not  suppose  existed. 

The  Indians'  dark  faces,  shaded  by  heavy  masses  of  hair,  are  for  the  most 
part  grave  and  impassive,  yet  keenly  attentive  and  intelligent,  and  light  up 
with  enjoyment  at  a  telling  hit,  or  bit  of  humor.  They  will  laugh  and  clap  their 
hands  once  together,  with  keen  appreciation  of  the  good  thing  that  has  been 
said.  A  man  who  is  making  a  speech  or  telling  a  story  uses  simple  and  direct 
words.  His  phrases  are  terse  and  epigrammatic,  but  he  adds  to  and  rounds  out 
the  spoken  word  by  a  marvelous  wealth  of  gesture  speech.  The  natural  signs 
which  he  employs  are  those  which  all  the  world  comprehends,  and  the  listener, 
even  though  unacquainted  with  the  language  that  is  spoken,  understands  much 
of  what  is  being  said. 

As  the  Indians  have  no  written  records,  their  early  history  depends  alto- 
gether on  oral  tradition.  Until  within  a  few  years,  thf.se  oral  records  were 
carefully  preserved.  In  each  tribe  there  were  old  men  wl  o  were  historians,  and 
who  made  it  their  business  to  carefully  instruct  certain  selected  young  men  or 
children  in  the  traditions  of  the  tribe,  just  as  their  own  grandfathers  had  taught 
them.  The  young  people  would  gather  in  the  lodges,  and  the  old  men  would 
repeat  the  tales,  telling  them  over  and  over  again,  until  the  hearers  had 
committed  them  to  memory.  In  this  way  the  sacred  stories,  the  elaborate 
religious  ritual,  and  all  the  tribal  history  which  is  now  extant,  have  been  handed 
down  in  all  the  tribes. 

Among  Indians  who  are  more  or  less  under  civilized  influences  the  ancient 

13 


14 


THE  INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


i^ 


myths  and  traditions  are  passing  out  of  remembrance,  but  in  the  old  wild  days 
tht;  handing  down  of  the  stories  from  one  generation  to  another  was  regarded  as 
a  sacred  duty  by  the  old  men  who  were  most  learned  in  this  ancient  lore.  They 
felt  a  pride  in  their  knowledge  of  this  history,  and  a  great  desire  to  transmit  it 
in  the  precise  form  in  which  they  had  received  it.  Very  often  portions  of  thft 
history,  like  many  of  the  sacred  stories,  were  kept  in  certain  families  for 
generations.  It  was  to  his  own  children  or  grandchildren  that  the  man  who  was 
the  best  authority  on  certain  matters  most  often  talked  of  them,  and  if  among 
these  descendants  he  found  one  who  manifested  a  special  interest  tn  the  stories, 
or  showed  marked  capacity  for  remembering  them,  he  redoubled  his  efforts  to 
perfect  this  particular  child  in  this  learning.  Often  to  such  a  one  he  would 
present  certain  old  stories  as  gifts,  and  these,  thereafter,  might  not  be  related  by 
another.  Even  to-day,  old  men  will  often  tell  how  earnestly  their  elders  strove 
to  impress  on  them,  when  they  were  little  lads,  the  importance  of  holding  fast 
this  history  just  as  they  had  received  it. 

It  is  not  an  easy  matter  to  learn  from  an  Indian  his  religious  beliefs.  Very 
few  white  men  care  to  discuss  with  strangers  the  things  that  they  hold  most 
sacred,  and  the  Indian  is  still  more  reticent.  He  suspects  the  enquirer  of  a  wish 
to  make  fun  of  him,  and  since  he  is  as  shy  and  as  easily  embarrassed  as  a  child, 
he  takes  refuge  in  silence,  or  in  most  laconic  speech.  It  is  different,  however, 
when  he  is  in  his  own  home,  and  among  his  own  people,  or  when  he  talks  with  a 
person  who  has  won  his  confidence.  Then,  he  is  childlike  again,  but  it  is  in  his 
frankness  and  openheartedness.  He  will  go  into  all  the  details  of  the  story,  and 
discuss  all  the  doubtful  points,  repeat  the  variants,  and  express  his  inability  to 
comprehend  the  marvels.  Sometimes,  if  he  has  been  much  under  white  influence, 
and  so  is  a  bit  of  a  skeptic,  he  will  ask  you,  confidentially,  whether  you  believe 
that  such  a  thing  could  have  taken  place.  If  you  are  wise,  you  will  not  express 
your  doubts.  It  is  much  better  to  quote  to  him  some  Bible  miracle,  and  assure 
him  that  the  white  people  believe  that. 

A  stranger  who  asks  an  Indian  to  tell  him  the  story  of  the  Creation,  will 
probably  be  told  that  the  Indians  know  nothing  about  it ;  but  if  a  friend  asks  the 
same  question,  the  Indian  will  say  to  him,  "We  do  not  know  how  it  was  in  the 
beginning,  but  we  have  heard.  This  is  what  the  old  men  have  told  us  ;  they 
received  it  from  their  grandfathers,  who  had  it  from  theirs;  so  the  story  has  been 
handed  down,  but  we  do  not  know  that  it  is  true."  While  in  the  tribe  such 
traditions  may  be  received  as  facts,  they  are  never  told  to  the  whites  as  such,  but 
it  is  always  explained  that  this  is  the  story,  but  that  the  speaker  has  no  actual 
knowledge  of  the  matter. 

Many  of  the  tribes  are  apparently  without  definite  tradition  of  the  Creation, 
while  others  have  detailed  accounts  of  it.    The  priests,  doctors,  or  mystery  men 


1 


days 
led  as 
They 
imit  it 
uf  the 
es  for 
no  >was 
among 
stories, 
[orts  to 
:  would 
ated  by 
s  strove 
ling  fast 

5.    Very 

)ld  most 

)f  a  wish 

5  a  child, 

however, 

ks  with  a 

t  is  in  his 

itory,  and 

ability  to 
nfluence, 
u  believe 

)t  express 
nd  assure 

ition,  will 
1  asks  the 
,vas  in  the 
us ; they 
has  been 
tribe  such 
such,  but 
;  no  actual 

Creation, 
Lrstery  men 


YEI.I.OW  MA(;i'lK 

ARAPAHOE 


I  I 


! 


BKIJKFS  AND   STORIES 


IS 


arc  usually  the  repositories  of  such  stories,  and  it  is  to  them  that  we  must  go  to 
hear  tho  talis  in  their  fullest  form,  and  only  in  this  form  have  they  any  real 
value.  The  worth  of  an  abstract  of  a  story  will  vary  with  the  indiviilual  who 
makes  the  abstract,  anti  from  such  a  skeleton  the  most  important  part  may  often 
be  missing.  Even  though  it  involve  much  added  labor  and  time,  and  the  setting 
down  of  many  trivial  details  ami  wearisome  repetitions,  it  is  much  betttr  to  take 
down  the  Indian  stories  word  for  word,  as  they  are  uttered,  so  that  the  whole 
material  may  be  considered  and  studied  before  any  :  .rt  of  it  is  rejected.  Only 
by  this  method  can  the  material  accessible  at  the  present  time  be  gathered  up 
without  loss. 

The  Indian  is  acquainted  with  all  the  operations  of  the  forces  of  nature,  but 
is  ignorant  of  their  causes.  The  results  of  these  causes  he  sees,  but  he  knows  not 
how  they  act,  nor  why.  To  him  they  are  mysteries,  some  of  which  are  terrifying. 
The  dangers  which  they  threaten  can  be  averted  by  no  act  of  his.  Some  hijjher 
power  must  turn  aside  the  thunderbolt,  must  ward  off  the  invisible  arrow  that 
causes  disease,  must  prevent  the  attacks  of  the  under-water  animals  if  one  crosses 
the  lake,  must  drive  away  the  ghosts.  Therefore  he  is  intensely  religious,  and 
prays  continually  for  help  from  the  higher  powers,  who,  in  his  belief,  rule  nature. 

It  may  readily  be  imagined  that  a  mental  attitude  such  as  this  is  a  fertile 
soil  for  the  growth  of  folklore,  and  that  the  attempts  to  explain  the  ordinary 
phenomena  of  nature  give  rise  to  a  great  number  of  myths.  The  folk  stories  of 
the  Indians  have  to  do  with  the  natural  objects  among  which  they  live,  with  the 
heavenly  bodies,  the  mountains,  rivers  and  trees,  the  animals,  birds  and  people. 
They  deal  also  with  a  great  variety  of  other  subjects  ;  with  history,  mythology, 
the  Creation,  the  development  of  man,  his  emotions,  his  yearnings  after  the 
unknown,  his  fears  of  the  supernat"ral.  This  lore  explains  too  the  origin  of  long 
established  customs,  tells  how  certain  cherished  religious  articles  came  into 
the  keeping  of  the  tribe;  or  again,  it  may  deal  with  matters  intended  only  for 
entertainment  and  amusement.     It  is  true  folklore. 

While  all  this  lore  treats  of  the  past,  and  usually  of  the  distant  past,  it  must 
not  be  imagined  that  it  no  longer  finds  credence  with  the  Indians  in  their  new 
condition.  On  the  contrary,  by  the  older  Indians  it  is  believed  as  firmly  as  ever. 
The  younger  ones,  however,  take  less  interest  in  the  stories  and  there  is  far  less 
opportunity  of  instructing  them  in  the  tales  now  than  in  the  old  days  of  the  free 
wanderings.  Although  in  some  tribes  the  ancient  ritual  and  the  stories  are  still 
fairly  well  preserved,  nevertheless  as  each  old  man  passes  away  some  little  bit  of 
history  or  tradition,  some  detail  of  a  story,  known  perhaps  only  to  him,  is  lost 
forever.  And  when  we  think  that  the  tales  these  old  men  can  relate  constitute 
the  only  history  of  the  tribes  we  can  ever  obtain,  it  is  greatly  to  be  regretted 
that  more  of  them  cannot  be  collected  and  preserved. 


i6 


THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


t   I 


The  Sun  is  personified,  and  is  regarded  as  a  man,  who,  each  day,  starts  on  his 
journey  from  the  eastern  horizon,  and  traveling  across  the  sky  to  the  west,  there 
enters  his  lodge  to  pass  the  night.  Very  early  in  the  morning  he  starts  out 
again  and  pasies  around  the  southern  edge  of  the  Hat  earth,  to  appear  again  at 
sunrise  in  the  east. 

In  many  tribes  the  Sun  is  the  principal  god  ;  the  creator  and  the  ruler  of  the 
world.  His  home  is  far  in  the  west,  Ijeyond  the  big  water,  in  a  pleasant  country. 
There  is  his  lodge,  big  and  fine,  handsomely  painted  with  figures  of  strange 
medicine  animals,  and  from  the  tripods  which  stand  behind  it  bang  wonderful 
weapons  and  mysterious  medicine  bundles.  Here,  too,  dwells  the  Moon,  the 
Sun's  wife,  the  old  woman;  and  here,  according  to  the  Blackfoot,  lives  also  the 
Morning  Star,  who  is  the  son  of  the  Sun  and  the  Moon.  In  the  summer  the  Sun 
is  strong  like  a  man  in  his  prime,  but  as  autumn  draws  on  he  grows  older,  and  in 
winter  he  is  weak  and  his  power  is  still  less,  but  in  spring  he  becomes  young  and 
strong  once  more,  for  his  work  through  the  summer. 

By  these  characteristics,  we  are  enabled  to  identify  the  Sun  as  the  culture  hero 
of  the  Cheyennes,  although  they  themselves  do  not  recognize  that  this  hero  was 
the  Sun.  They  say  of  him,  whom  they  call  merely  The  Stranger,  that  he  lived 
with  them  "  for  four  or  five  long  lifetimes  of  people.  Children  grew  up,  became 
old  and  died  ;  other  young  people  were  born,  grew  up,  became  old  and  died,  but 
still  this  man  lived  on.  All  through  summer  he  used  to  be  young  like  a  young 
man,  but  when  autumn  came  and  the  grass  commenced  to  dry  up,  he  began  to 
look  older,  and  about  the  middle  of  the  winter  he  was  like  a  very  old  man,  and 
walked  bent  over  and  crooked.     In  spring  he  became  young  again." 

As  has  been  said,  the  Moon  is  the  Sun's  wife,  and  the  mother  of  the 
Morning  Star.  She  seems  to  represent  the  female  principle,  and  in  some  of  the 
old  Pawnee  songs  she  is  called  mother,  just  ..s  the  Sun  is  called  father,  although 
in  historic  times  the  Pawnees  have  never  worshiped  the  Sun. 

An  ancient  Blackfoot  legend  about  the  Sun  and  the  Moon,  so  old  that  it 
seems  to  have  no  relation  to  the  other  myths  of  that  people,  is  told  on  another 
page. 

The  Morning  Star,  child  of  the  Sun  and  Moon,  is  the  only  one  left  to  them 
of  many  sons.  All  of  the  others  have  been  killed.  Among  the  Pawnees  and 
some  other  tribes,  the  Evening  Star  is  the  protec'.or  of  fields  and  planting,  and 
in  ancient  times  a  captive,  carefully  fattened  in  anticipation  of  the  event,  was 
sacrificed  to  the  Star  and  afterwards  cut  into  small  piuce^  and  the  flesh  scattered 
over  the  fields.  Many  tribes  regard  certain  brignt  sta^s  as  mei.,  ivho  start  out 
from  their  heavenly  lodges  at  sunset  and  make  nightly  journeys  across  the  sky. 
Sometimes  such  stars  have  taken  women  from  among  the  tribes  to  be  their 
wives,  and  there  are  many  tales  narrating  the  attempts  of  such  women  to  rejoin 


I  his 
here 
i  out 
in  at 

)f  the 
jntry. 
range 
tlerful 
n,  the 
so  the 
-\e  Sun 
and  in 
ng  and 

ire  hero 
ero  was 
he  lived 
became 
lied,  but 
a  young 
began  to 
nan, and 

r  of  the 
ne  of  the 
although 


i|' 


lid 


that  it 
another 


ft  to  them 
^rnees  and 
iting,  and 
2vent,  was 
scattered 
start  out 
i  the  sky. 
be  their 
In  to  rejoin 


LITTLE  HEAR 

AKAPAHOE 


fi 


BELIEFS  AND    STORIES 


J7 


their  people  on  earth,  and  giving  the  adventures  of  the  children  who  have  been 
born  of  such  unions 

The  earth  is  flat  and  circular,  the  Indian  would  tell  you,  and  from  the  edges 
its  surface  runs  vertically  downward.  The  Earth  is  the  mother,  the  fruitful  one 
on  whom  we  depend  for  food,  drink  and  a  place  to  live.  It  produces  the  corn, 
the  roots  and  the  berries  on  which  we  subsist  ;  from  it  grows  the  grass  which  the 
buffalo  eats  ;  so  that  without  the  earth  we  could  have  no  food.  The  ground 
furnishes  a  course  for  the  water.  Without  water  we  could  not  live.  We  cut  our 
lodge  poles  from  trees  growing  out  of  the  ground.  So  it  is  that  the  earth  is  sacred. 
The  Great  Power  put  the  earth  here,  and  later  must  have  put  us  on  it.  Without 
the  earth  nothing  could  live.  There  could  be  no  animals,  nor  any  vegetables. 
So  it  is  that  when  we  pray  to  the  earth,  we  ask  it  to  make  everything  grow  that 
we  eat,  so  that  we  may  live  ;  to  make  the  water  to  flow,  that  we  may  have 
something  to  drink ;  to  keep  the  ground  firm,  so  that  we  may  live  and  walk  on 
it,  and  to  make  those  plants  and  herbs  to  grow,  that  we  use  when  we  are  sick,  to 
make  ourselves  well. 

The  thunder,  the  lightning,  and  the  rain  storm  are  all  classed  together  in 
the  Indian's  mind,  and  of  all  the  powers  of  nature,  none  is  more  terrible  to  him 
than  the  thunder,  which  he  calls  "  that  dreadful  one,"  the  only  one  we  fear,  our 
only  danger.  The  thunder  strikes  without  warning.  His  bolt  shatters  the  lofty 
crag,  blasts  the  tallest  pine,  and  fells  the  strongest  animal,  a  moment  before 
active  and  full  of  life.  From  him  it  is  impossible  to  run  away.  He  strikes,  and 
there  we  lie.  Usually  the  thunder  is  described  as  a  great  bird,  which  flies 
through  the  air  with  his  eyes  shut,  but  when  he  opens  them,  the  lightning  flashes 
forth.  The  roar  of  the  thunder  is  caused,  some  believe,  by  the  wings  of  the 
Thunder  Bird,  while  others  think  that  it  is  his  shouting.  The  thunder  is  wor- 
shiped with  elaborate  ceremonial,  partly  to  propitiate  him,  because  he  is  so 
dangerous,  but  also  because  he  brings  the  rain  and  makes  the  berries  large  and 
sweet.  In  the  autumn,  the  thunder  goes  south  with  the  birds,  but  returns  in 
spring,  and  is  welcomed,  because  with  his  coming  come  the  growing  grass  and 
the  blossoming  flowers.  There  is  a  bitter  enmity  between  the  Thunder  Bird 
and  some  of  the  under-water  monsters. 

The  winter  is  caused  by  Cold  Maker,  whom  some  tribes  call  the  Winter 
Man.  He  is  white  as  snow,  and  comes  riding  a  white  horse  in  the  midst  of  the 
snow-storm.  He  comes  from  a  place  far  to  the  north,  where  there  are  always 
clouds,  through  which  the  sun  can  never  shine  to  heat  anything.  It  is  from 
there  that  Ho-i'm-a-ha  comes  and  brings  the  winter.  Often  he  advances 
in  a  white  cloud,  and,  as  it  moves  along,  he  says  to  the  Sun,  "I  am 
coming,  I  am  coming;  back  away,  because  I  am  going  to  make  it  cold  over  all 
the  land."     As  he  goes  on  he  spreads  the  cold  all  over  a  wide  stretch  of  country, 


r 


i8 


THE  INDIANS  OF   TO-DAY 


and  it  is  cold  everywhere.  In  the  spring  the  sun  begins  to  get  higher  and 
higher.  As  it  gets  higher,  it  says  to  Ho-i'm-a-ha,  "  Go  back  now  to  where  you 
came  from.  I  want  to  heat  the  earth  again,  and  to  make  the  grass  and  all  things 
grow."  Then  the  cold  goes  back.  So  it  is  that  each  one  has  his  power.  At  one 
time  the  Winter  Man  overpowers,  and  again  the  Sun  gains  the  mastery.  Thus 
they  drive  each  other  back  and  forth. 

In  a  Cheyenne  story,  the  hero,  Bow-fast-to-his-body,  who  has  destroyed 
many  evil  animals  and  powers  that  were  troubling  the  people,  comes  in  contact 
also  with  the  Winter  Man.  Bow-fast-to-his-body  went  to  the  Winter  Man's 
lodge,  and  when  he  came  to  it  he  spoke  and  said:  "  I  have  come  to  visit  the 
people  and  have  a  talk  with  them."  He  lifted  the  door  and  went  in,  and  when 
the  Winter  Man  saw  him  he  said:  "Ah!  I  have  heard  of  you  already."  Then 
he  caused  a  great  storm  in  the  lodge,  and  called  out:  "Help  me,  my 
children,  help  me,"  for  he  was  afraid.  It  grew  very  cold  and  the  snow  fell  so 
thickly  that  they  could  not  see  across  the  lodge.  The  young  man  was  carrying 
a  fan  made  from  an  eagle's  wing,  and  he  began  to  fan  himself  as  if  he  were  in  a 
sweat-house,  and  as  he  fanned  himself  the  snow  ceased  falling,  and  that  which 
was  on  the  floor  of  the  lodge  quickly  melted.  The  Winter  Man  cried  out: 
"  Run,  my  children,  run.  He  is  stronger  than  we  are.  He  has  the  greater 
power."  They  all  ran,  but  Bow-fast-to-his-body,  catching  up  a  club,  ran  after 
them  and  killed  them  as  they  fled,  all  except  one  little  one,  that  crept  into  a 
crevice  of  a  rock  and  escaped.  Afterwards  when  the  people  used  to  go  and 
look  into  this  crevice  in  the  morning,  they  would  find  frost  there.  They  used  to 
bring  hot  water  and  pour  it  into  the  crevice,  trying  to  scald  this  child  to  death, 
but  every  morning  the  frost  was  there.  They  say  that  if  this  one  had  been 
killed  there  would  have  been  no  more  winter. 

The  wind  cannot  be  seen.  Often  the  principal  god  uses  it  as  his  messenger, 
sending  it  to  carry  his  words  to  people,  or  sometimes  to  transport  people  to  him. 
Among  the  Blackfeet,  the  wind  is  caused  by  a  great  animal  that  lives  in  the 
mountains,  and  as  it  moves  its  ears  backward  and  forward,  makes  the  wind 
blow  in  furious  gusts. 

The  depths  of  the  water  shelter  a  horde  of  mysterious  inhabitants.  Some 
of  them  have  the  form  of  people,  though  quite  different  from  those  who  live  on 
the  prairie.  Others  are  animals  similar  in  appearance  to  those  living  on  the 
land,  while  others  still  are  monsters.  Many  are  malignant,  lying  in  wait  for 
any  one  who  may  venture  on  the  water,  and  seizing  and  dragging  him  down. 
These  under-water  monsters  delight  to  come  to  the  surface  to  bask  in  the  sun- 
shine, but  there  is  a  bitter  feud  between  all  of  them  and  the  Thunder  Bird,  and 
as  they  come  toward  the  top  they  move  very  slowly,  and  look  all  about  them  for 
any  sign  of  the  Thunder  Bird  near.     If  there  should  be  only  a  single  little  cloud 


'i; 


BELIEFS  AND  STORIES 


19 


in  the  sky,  they  will  not  venture  to  show  themselves  at  the  surface.  If  the 
Thunder  Bird  sees  one  of  them,  he  swoops  down  and  grasps  it  in  his  claws  and 
carries  it  away.  There  are  people  who  have  seen  the  Thunder  Bird  carrying 
away  an  under-water  monster,  and  the  Dakotas  believe  that  the  land  slips  so 
often  seen  in  the  bluffs  along  the  Missouri  River  show  where  the  Thunder  Bird 
has  darted  down  to  seize  one  of  these  under-water  monsters  which  was  leaving 
the  water  to  creep  into  the  earth  and  do  it  harm. 

Some  tribes  believe  that  under  the  springs  which  flow  out  from  beneath 
bluffs  and  banks  lie  beings  which  must  be  propitiated;  therefore,  they  bring 
presents  and  leave  them  by  the  spring.  If  any  one  should  carelessly  jump  across 
a  stream  flowing  from  such  a  spring  near  its  head,  he  may  have  shot  into  him  a 
mysterious  arrow  which  will  cause  disease. 

As  in  all  countries  and  among  all  people,  ghosts  are  greatly  feared.  These 
are  the  spirits  of  the  dead,  and  it  is  not  very  unusual  for  them  to  return  to  the 
places  where  they  have  lived.  There  are  many  stories  telling  of  the  return  to 
life  of  persons  who  have  died.  A  very  interesting  Blackfoot  story  is  singularly 
like  the  classical  myth  of  Orpheus  and  Eurydice.  There  is  always  a  danger 
that  the  people,  who  have  returned  to  life,  will  disappear  again,  if  their  instruc- 
tions are  not  obeyed,  as  in  the  story  of  the  Ghost  Wife. 


senger, 
to  him. 
m  the 
wind 

Some 

ive  on 

on  the 

vait  for 

down. 

le  sun- 

rd,  and 

lem  for 

le  cloud 


THE  GHOST  WIFE  * 

One  time  there  were  living  together  a  man  and  his  wife.  They  hadva  young 
child.    The  woman  died.     The  man  was  very  sad,  and  mourned  for  his  wife. 

One  night  he  took  the  child  in  his  arms,  and  went  out  from  the  village  to 
the  place  where  his  wife  was  buried,  and  stood  over  the  grave,  and  mourned  for 
his  wife.  The  little  child  was  very  helpless,  and  cried  all  the  time.  The  man's 
heart  was  sick  with  grief  and  loneliness.  Late  in  the  night  he  fell  asleep,  fainting 
and  worn  out  with  sorrow.  After  a  while  he  awoke,  and  when  he  looked  up, 
there  was  a  form  standing  by  him.  The  form  standing  there  was  the  form  of  the 
one  who  had  died.  She  spoke  to  her  husband,  and  said,  "  You  are  very  unhappy 
here.  There  is  a  place  to  go  where  we  would  not  be  unhappy.  Where  I  have 
been  nothing  bad  happens  to  one.  Here,  you  never  know  what  evil  will  come  to 
you.    You  and  the  child  had  better  come  to  me." 

The  man  did  not  want  to  die.  He  said  to  her,  "  No,  it  will  be  better  if  you 
can  come  back  to  us.  We  love  you.  If  you  were  with  us,  we  would  be  unhappy 
no  longer." 

For  a  long  time  they  discussed  this,  to  decide  which  one  should  go  to  the 
other.    At  length  the  man  by  his  persuasions  overcame  her,  and  the  woman 

•  Pawnee  Hero  Stories  and  Folk  Tales,  p.  i  jg. 


T^ 


20 


THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


agreed  to  come  back.  She  said  to  the  man,  "  If  I  am  to  come  back  you  must  do 
exactly  as  I  tell  you  for  four  nights.  For  four  days  the  curtain  must  remain  let 
down  before  my  sleeping  place  ;  it  must  not  be  raised  ;  no  one  must  look 
behind  it." 

The  man  did  as  he  had  been  told,  and  after  four  days  had  passed,  the  curtain 
was  lifted,  and  the  woman  came  out  from  behind  it.  Then  they  all  saw  her,  first 
her  relations,  and  afterward  the  whole  tribe.  Her  husband  and  her  child  were 
very  glad,  and  they  lived  happily  together. 

A  long  time  after  this,  the  man  took  another  wife.  The  first  wife  was  always 
pleasant  and  good-natured,  but  the  new  one  was  sharp-tempered,  and  after  some 
time  she  grew  jealous  of  the  first  woman,  and  quarreled  with  her.  At  length  one 
day  the  last  married  became  angry  with  the  other,  and  called  her  bad  names, 
and  finally  said  to  her,  "  You  ought  not  to  be  here.  You  are  nothing  but  a 
ghost,  anyway." 

That  night  when  the  man  went  to  bed,  he  lay  down,  as  was  his  custom,  by 
the  side  of  his  first  wife.  During  the  night  he  awoke,  and  found  that  his  wife 
had  disappeared.  She  was  seen  no  more.  The  next  night  after  this  happened, 
the  man  and  the  child  both  died  in  sleep.  The  wife  had  called  them  to  her. 
They  had  gone  to  that  place  where  there  is  a  living. 

This  convinced  everybody  that  there  is  a  hereafter. 


The  Plains  Indian  shares  his  home  with  the  animals  and  the  birds,  whose 
kinship  he  acknowledges.  He  recognizes  that  of  all  living  things  there  is  a 
common  origin,  that  all  are  made  by  the  same  Creator;  so  he  calls  the  animals 
his  relations — sometimes  his  younger  brothers.  He  knows  that  in  certain  respects 
they  are  his  inferiors,  for  he  can  overcome  them;  but  he  sees  a'so  that  they 
possess  senses  or  instincts  that  are  keener  and  more  to  be  relied  on  than  his  own, 
and  thus  believes  that  they  receive  from  a  higher  power  help  which  is  denied  to 
him.  Many  of  them  typify  qualities  which  he  desires  to  possess,  such  as 
bravery,  craft,  endurance,  or  some  physical  attribute.  Therefore,  when  he  is  in 
difficulties,  or  when  danger  threatens,  he  prays  to  the  animals  to  help  him,  either 
directly  by  their  own  intervention,  or  by  intercession  with  the  ruler  of  the 
universe.  Thus  these  animals  often  have  a  sacred  character.  In  every  tribe 
tales  and  traditions  have  grown  up,  which  have  for  their  central  motive  the 
powers  exercised  by  certain  animals  and  birds. 

There  is  a  wide  difference  in  the  ways  in  which  many  of  the  animals  are 
regarded  by  the  various  tribes  of  the  prairie,  but  obviously  the  better  known  a 
species  is — whether  by  reason  of  its  strength,  its  numbers  or  its  importance  as 
food — the  greater  the  likelihood  of  its  taking  on  a  special  character.  The 
buffalo,  bear,  wolf,  coyote,  beaver,  raven,  eagle,  hawk,  owl,  swan   and   spider 


lU 


■as.-. 


i 


lis  are 
liown  a 
Ince  as 
The 
I  spider 


BLACK  MAN 

ARAPAHOE 


' 


HKLIKFS  AND    STORIES 


31 


are  held  in  reverence  by  all  the  tribes     To  the   badger,  wolverine,   kit  fox, 
magpie  and  others  was  given  a  less  extended  regard. 

As  is  natural,  the  buffalo  was  one  of  the  most  important  and  sacred  of  all  the 
animals  to  those  tribes  which  subsisted  chiefly  on  its  flesh.  The  Blackfeet  called 
it  Ni-4i,  which  means,  my  shelter,  my  protection,  while  all  the  plains  tribes 
prayed  to  it.  Often  to-day,  set  up  before  the  sweat  lodges  of  the  Cheyennes, 
may  be  seen  the  white  and  weathered  skull  of  a  buffalo  bull,  and  after  the  people 
have  taken  their  sweat  and  come  out  from  the  lodge,  they  light  the  pipe  and 
offer  it  to  the  bull's  head,  and  as  they  used  to  in  the  olden  time,  ask  it  to  rise 
from  the  ground,  put  flesh  upon  its  bones,  and  run  off  over  the  prairie,  so  that 
they  may  have  its  meat  to  eat  and  its  skin  to  use  as  covering  for  the  lodges. 
There  are  many  stories  about  young  women  having  been  carried  away  by  buffalo, 
and  about  that  ancient  time  before  the  people  obtained  bows  and  arrows,  when 
the  buffalo  used  to  eat  the  people. 

As  the  largest  and  most  dangerous  of  the  carnivorous  mammals,  the  bear 
was  venerated,  yet  not  so  much  for  its  strength  as  for  its  wisdom.  It  was  believed 
to  be  invulnerable,  to  have  the  power  of  stopping  the  bullets  or  arrows  shot 
against  it,  or  to  be  able  to  take  care  of  itself  if  wounded.  It  might  render 
invulnerable  those  whom  it  wished  to  help,  and  might  even  restore  to  life 
persons  toward  whom  it  felt  an  especial  friendliness.  This  reverence  for  the 
bear  is  common  to  all  the  North  American  tribes,  but  nowhere  is  it  described 
with  greater  detail  than  among  the  Pawnees,  by  whom  the  following  story  is  told 
concerning  it : 

THE  BEAR  MAN  * 

There  was  once  a  young  boy,  who,  when  he  was  playing  with  his  fellows,  used 
often  to  imitate  the  ways  of  a  bear,  and  to  pretend  that  he  was  one.  The  boys 
did  not  know  much  about  bears.    They  only  knew  that  there  were  such  animals. 

Now,  it  had  happened  that  before  this  boy  was  born  his  mother  had  been 
left  alone  at  home,  for  his  father  had  gone  on  the  warpath  toward  the  enemy, 
and  this  was  about  five  or  six  months  before  the  babe  would  be  born.  As  the 
man  was  going  on  the  warpath,  he  came  upon  a  little  bear  cub,  very  small,  whose 
mother  had  gone  away  ;  and  he  caught  it.  He  did  not  want  to  kill  it  because  it 
was  so  young  and  helpless.  It  seemed  to  him  like  a  little  child.  It  looked  up  to 
him,  and  cried  after  him,  because  it  knew  no  better  ;  and  he  hated  to  kill  it  or 
to  leave  it  there.  After  he  had  thought  about  this  for  a  while,  he  put  a  string 
around  its  neck  and  tied  some  medicine  smoking  stuff,  Indian  tobacco,  to  it,  and 
said,  "  Pi-raii-child,  you  are  a  Nahu'rac  ;t  Tirawa  made  you,  and  takes  care  of 

•  Pawnee  Hero  Stories  and  Folk  Tales,  p.  m. 
t  Nahfirac,  animal.     Tlr4wa,  the  Great  Spirit. 


2a  THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-UAY 

you.  He  will  look  after  you,  but  I  put  these  things  about  your  neck  to  show  that 
I  have  good  feelings  toward  you.  1  hope  that  when  my  child  is  born,  the 
Nahurac  will  take  care  of  him  and  see  that  he  grows  up  a  good  man,  and  I  hope 
that  Tirawa  will  take  care  of  you  and  of  mine."  He  lookeil  at  the  little  bear 
for  (iuit(!  a  long  time,  ant'  talked  to  it,  and  then  he  went  on  his  way. 

When  he  returned  to  the  village  from  his  warpath,  he  told  his  wife  about 
the  little  bear,  and  how  he  had  looked  at  it  and  talked  to  it. 

When  his  child  was  born  it  had  all  the  ways  of  a  bear.  So  it  is  among  the 
Pawnees.  A  woman,  before  her  child  is  born,  must  not  look  hard  at  any  animal, 
for  the  child  may  be  like  it.  There  was  a  woman  in  the  Kit-ke-hahk-i  band,  who 
caught  a  rabbit,  and  because  it  was  gentle  and  soft,  she  took  it  up  in  her  hands 
and  held  it  before  her  face  and  petted  it,  and  when  her  child  was  born  it  had  a 
split  nose  like  a  rabbit.    This  man  is  still  alive. 

This  boy,  who  was  like  a  bear,  as  he  grew  up,  had  still  more  the  ways  of  a 
bear.  Often  he  would  go  off  by  himself,  and  try  to  pray  to  the  bear,  because  he 
felt  like  a  bear.  He  used  to  say,  in  a  joking  way,  to  the  other  young  men,  that 
he  could  make  himself  a  bear. 

After  he  had  come  to  be  a  man,  he  started  out  once  on  the  warpath  with  a 
party  of  about  thirty-five  others.  He  was  the  leader  of  the  party.  They  went 
away  up  on  the  Running  Water,  and  before  they  had  come  to  any  village,  they 
were  discovered  by  Sioux.  The  enemy  pursued  them,  and  sur'-ounded  them,  and 
fought  with  them.  The  Pawnees  were  overpowered,  their  enemies  were  so  many, 
and  all  were  killed. 

The  country  where  this  took  place  is  rocky,  and  much  cedar  grows  there. 
Many  bears  live  there.  The  battle  was  fought  in  the  morning;  and  the  Pawnees 
were  all  killed  in  a  hollow.  Right  after  the  fight,  in  the  afternoon,  two  bears 
came  traveling  along  by  this  place.  When  they  came  to  the  spot  where  the 
Pawnees  had  been  killed,  they  found  one  of  the  bodies,  and  the  she  bear 
recognized  it  as  that  of  the  boy  who  was  like  a  bear.  She  called  to  the  he  bear, 
and  said,  "Here  is  the  man  that  was  very  good  to  us.  He  often  sacrificed 
smokes  to  us,  and  every  time  he  ate  he  used  always  to  take  a  piece  of  food  and 
give  it  to  us,  saying;  '  Here  is  something  for  you  to  eat.  Eat  this.'  Here  is  the 
one  that  always  imitated  us,  and  sung  about  us,  and  talked  about  us.  Can  you 
do  anything  for  him?"  The  he  bear  said,  "  I  fear  I  cannot  do  it.  I  have  not  the 
power,  but  I  will  try.  I  can  do  anything  if  the  sun  is  shining.  I  seem  to  have 
more  power  when  the  sun  is  shining  on  me."  That  day  it  was  cloudy  and  cold 
and  snoving.  Every  now  and  then  the  clouds  would  pass,  and  the  sun  would 
come  out  for  a  little  while,  and  then  the  clouds  would  cover  it  again. 

The  man  was  all  cut  up,  pretty  nearly  hacked  in  small  pieces,  for  he  was  the 
bravest  of  all.    The  two  bears  gathered  up  the  pieces  of  the  man,  and  put  them 


!| 


J 


I 


lat 
lu- 


there, 
wnees 
bears 
e  the 
bear 
bear, 
•itked 
(1  and 
is  the 
n  you 
ot  the 
have 
d  cold 
would 

^as  the 
them 


CHIEF  MOUNTAIN 

BLACK   FEET 


BKLIKFS  AND   STORIES 


>3 


together,  and  then  the  he  bear  lay  clown  and  took  the  man  on  his  breast,  and  the 
she  bear  lay  on  top  of  the  body  to  warm  it.  They  worked  over  it  with  their 
medicine,  and  every  now  and  then  the  he  bear  would  cry  out,  and  say, 
"  A-tf-u9,  Father,  help  me.  I  wish  the  sun  was  shining."  After  a  while  the  dead 
body  grew  warm,  and  then  began  to  breathe  a  little.  It  was  still  all  cut  up,  but 
it  began  to  have  life.  Pretty  soon  the  man  began  to  move,  and  to  come  to  life, 
and  then  he  became  conscious  and  had  life.  When  he  came  to  himself  and 
opened  his  eyes  he  was  in  the  presence  of  two  bears.  The  he  bear  spoke  to  him, 
and  said,  "  It  is  not  through  me  that  you  are  living.  It  was  the  she  bear  who 
asked  for  help  for  you,  and  had  you  brought  back  to  life.  Now,  you  are  not  yet 
whole  ami  well.  You  must  come  away  with  us,  and  live  with  us  for  a  time,  until 
all  your  wounds  are  healed."  The  bears  took  him  away  with  them.  Hut  the 
man  was  very  weak,  and  every  now  and  then,  as  they  were  going  along,  he  would 
faint  and  fall  down  ;  but  still  they  would  help  him  up  and  support  him  ;  and  they 
took  him  along  with  them,  until  they  came  to  a  cave  in  the  rocks  among  the 
cedars,  which  was  their  home.  When  he  entered  the  cave,  he  found  their  young 
ones  that  they  had  left  behind  when  they  started  out.  The  man  was  all  cut  up 
and  gashed.  He  had  also  been  scalped,  and  had  no  hi  'i*  on  his  head.  He  lived 
with  the  bears  until  he  was  quite  healed  of  his  wounds,  and  also  had  come  to 
understand  all  their  ways.  The  two  old  bears  taught  him  everything  that  they 
knew.  The  he  bear  said  to  him,  "  None  of  all  the  beings  and  animals  that  roam 
over  the  country  are  as  great  and  as  wise  as  the  bears.  No  animal  is  equal  to 
us.  When  we  get  hunjjry,  we  go  out  and  kill  something  and  eat  it.  I  did  not 
make  the  wisdom  that  I  have.  1  am  an  animal,  and  I  look  to  one  above.  He 
made  me,  and  he  made  me  to  be  great.  I  am  made  to  live  here  and  to  be  great, 
but  still  there  will  be  an  end  to  my  days,  just  as  with  all  of  us  that  Tiriwa  has 
created  upon  this  earth.  I  am  going  to  make  you  a  great  man;  but  you  must  not 
deceive  yourself.  You  must  not  think  that  1  am  great,  or  can  do  great  things  of 
myself.  You  must  always  look  up  above  for  the  giver  of  all  power.  You  shall 
be  great  in  war  and  great  in  wealth. 

"  Now  you  are  well,  and  I  shall  take  you  back  to  your  home,  and  after  this  I 
want  you  to  imitate  us.  This  shall  be  a  part  of  your  greatness.  I  shall  look 
after  you.  I  shall  give  to  you  a  part  of  myself.  If  I  am  killed,  you  shall  be 
killed.     If  I  grow  old,  you  shall  be  old. 

"  I  want  you  to  look  at  one  of  the  trees  that  Tiriwa  made  in  this  earth, 
and  place  your  dependence  on  it.  Tirdwa  made  this  tree  (pointing  to  a  cedar). 
It  never  gets  old.  It  is  always  green  and  young.  Take  notice  of  this  tree,  and 
always  have  it  with  you  ;  and  when  you  are  in  the  lodge  and  it  thunders  and 
lightens,*  throw  some  of  it  on  the  fire  and  let  the  smoke  rise.     Hold  that  fast." 

*A  cedar  is   never  struck  by  lightning. 


24 


THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-UAY 


The  he  bear  took  the  skin  of  a  bf^ar.  and  marie  a  cap  for  him,  to  hide  his 
naked  skull.  His  wounds  verv  now  all  iio.^ied,  and  he  was  well  and  strong. 
The  man's  people  hati  nearly  forgotten  him,  it  ha<l  been  so  lonj,'  ago,  and  they 
supposed  that  the  whole  party  had  been  killed. 

Soon  after  this  the  he  bear  said,  "  Now  we  will  take  that  journey."  They 
started,  and  went  to  the  village,  and  waited  near  it  till  it  was  night.  Then  the 
bear  said  to  him,  "  Go  into  the  village,  and  tell  your  father  that  you  are  here. 
Then  get  for  me  a  piece  of  buffalo  m-tal,  and  a  blue  bead,  and  some  Indian 
tobacco,  and  some  sweet  smelling  clay.'"* 

The  man  went  into  the  village,  and  his  father  was  very  much  surprised,  and 
very  glad  to  see  him  again.  He  got  the  presents,  and  brought  them  to  the  bear, 
and  gave  them  to  him,  and  the  bear  talked  to  him. 

When  they  were  about  to  part,  the  bear  came  up  to  him,  and  put  his  arms 
about  him,  and  hugged  him,  and  put  his  mouth  against  the  man's  mouth,  and 
said,  "  As  the  fur  that  I  am  in  has  touched  you  it  will  make  you  great,  and  this 
will  be  a  blessing  to  you. "  His  paws  were  around  the  man's  shoulders,  and  he 
drew  them  down  his  arms,  until  they  came  to  his  hands,  and  he  held  them, 
and  said,  "  As  my  hands  have  touched  your  hands,  they  are  made  great,  not  to 
fear  anything.  1  have  rubbed  my  hands  down  over  you,  so  that  you  shall  be  as 
tough  as  1  am.  Because  my  mouth  has  touched  your  mouth  you  shall  be  made 
wise."     Then  he  left  him,  and  went  away. 

So  this  man  was  the  greatest  of  all  warriors,  and  was  brave.  He  was  like  a 
bear.  He  originated  the  Bear  Dance  which  still  exists  among  the  tribe  of 
Pawnees.  He  came  to  be  an  old  man,  and  at  last  died  of  old  age.  I  suspect  the 
old  bear  died  at  the  same  time. 


!'l|i 


Among  all  the  plains  tribes  the  wolf  typifies  craft  in  war,  and  in  Indian 
gesture  language  the  sign  for  a  scout  is  the  sign  for  wolf.  The  animal  is  highly 
respected,  and  all  people  are  on  friendly  terms  with  it,  and  regard  it  as  an  ally. 
Sometimes  wolves  talk  to  people,  telling  them  what  is  going  to  happen,  or 
informing  them  of  the  whereabouts  of  their  enemies. 

The  eagle,  hawk  and  owl — birds  that  capture  their  prey — typify  courage  and 
dash,  which  lead  to  success  in  war,  and  are  prayed  to.  The  raven  and  magpie 
are  birds  of  great  wisdom.  They  talk  to  people,  telling  them  of  coming  events, 
leading  them  to  game,  or  advising  them  of  danger,  and  recommending  a  course 
of  action.  Certain  small  water  birds  are  used  as  messengers  by  the  supernat- 
ural powers.  All  birds  of  whatever  sort  are  said  to  have  some  spiritual  power. 
The  under-water  people,  believed  in  by  the  Blackfeet,  are  reported  to  use  wild 


;'i 


•  A  green  clay,  which  they  roast,  and  which  then  turns  dark  red,  and  has  n  sweet  smell. 


! 


I 


Indian 

highly 

m  ally- 

)pen,  or 

age  and 
magpie 

events, 
a  course 
upernat- 
1  power. 

use  wild 


IIUNDICK  C'Lori) 

IILAIK    KKKT 


m  * 


III 


1 


BELIEFS  AND  STORIES 


25 


fowl— ducks,  geese  and  swans— for  their  beasts  of  burden,  and  swans  often  bear 
to  the  home  of  the  principal  god  the  person  who  is  to  visit  him. 

Beliefs  about  insects  are  less  common  ;  yet  a  faith  in  the  intelligence  and 
spiritual  power  of  the  spider  is  very  wide-spread  '  .  ften  it  is  a  wonder  worker, 
and  it  always  represents  intelligence.  Among  the  Blackfeet  the  butterfly  seems 
to  be  the  sleep  producer.  It  causes  us  to  slumber  and  brings  us  our  dreams. 
The  Blackfoot  woman  still  embroiders  on  a  piece  of  buckskin  a  cross — the  sign 
of  the  butterfly — and  ties  it  to  her  baby's  hair  when  she  wishes  it  to  sleep,  at  the 
same  time  singing  a  lullaby  which  asks  the  butterfly  to  come  flying  about  and  to 
put  the  child  to  sleep. 

These  and  a  host  of  similar  beliefs  and  tales  have  to  do  chiefly  with  the 
phenomena  of  nature,  but  there  are  many  others  that  tell  of  the  doings  of  the 
people,  often  inculcating  some  moral  lesson,  and  showing  how  bravery, 
endurance,  singleness  of  purpose,  or  some  other  virtue  is  rewarded  by  success. 

Besides  the  tales  and  tradition?  which  treat  of  the  Creation,  of  the 
phenomena  of  nature,  of  the  animals,  and  of  the  people,  there  is  another  class 
which  deal  with  a  mythical  person  of  great  power,  maliciousness  and  childish- 
ness, and  which  seem  to  be  told  largely  for  entertainment.  Such  stories  are 
current  among  all  tribes  of  Algonquin  blood.* 

The  coyote  stories  current  among  tribes  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
and  the  bluejay  stories  of  the  Chinook  Indians,  collected  by  Dr.  Franz  Boas,  are 
of  a  similar  nature.  Of  a  more  serious  character,  because  having  a  historical 
interest,  are  those  tales  which  describe  the  beginnings  of  certain  customs  which 
have  been  practiced  so  long  that  their  origin  is  forgotten,  except  by  the  very  old 
men  of  the  tribe,  who  jealously  preserve  the  tradition.  Examples  of  such 
stories  are  the  Young  Dog's  Dance  and  the  Buffalo  Wife. 


'  Blackfoot   Lodge   Tales,  p.    128,  25(1,   et   seq. 


\ 


■"R 


u 


h'i 


CHAFTHR  IV 


THE  YOUNG  DOGS  DANCE 


The  Pawnees  formerly  practiced  a  religious  dance  which,  though  bearing  a 
different  name,  was  in  many  respects  similar  to  that  common  to  many  of 
the  buffalo  peoples,  called  the  Sun  Uance,  or  the  festival  of  the  Medicine 
Lodge. 

My  old  friend  Pipe  Chief  first  told  me  of  the  dance  as  we  were  sitting  by 
the  fire  in  one  of  the  great  dirt  lodges.  It  was  night  and  all  was  still,  save  now 
and  then  for  the  hoof-beats  of  some  swiftly  galloping  horse  which  was  carrying 
its  rider  to  his  home.  The  fire  flickered  brightly,  and  the  forms  cf  the  people 
who  sat  about  it  cast  queer  shadows  into  the  background,  where  one  could  see 
<limly  the  sleeping  places  with  their  curtains  let  down,  the  saddles  hung  to  the 
roof  posts,  and  over  the  bed  of  the  lodge  owner  the  sacred  bundle  which 
contained  the  mysterious  objects  which  he  valued  the  most  highly  of  all  his 
possessions.  From  time  to  time  the  old  man  bent  forward  and  refilled  the  pipe, 
and  lighting  it  by  a  coal  from  the  fire,  uttered  his  prayer  to  the  Ruler,  and 
smoked,  first  to  the  sky,  and  to  the  earth,  and  then  offered  the  stem  to  the  four 
points  of  the  compass ;  and  as  the  solemn  words  were  spoken  so  gravely  and 
reverently,  I  felt  again  as  I  have  so  often  felt  before,  how  real  a  thing  to  the 
believer  is  his  religion,  whatever  that  religion  may  be. 

Often  before  this  day,  I  had  noticed  on  Pipe  Chief's  chest  four  regular  scars, 
two  over  each  breast,  which  looked  like  the  scars  made  when  the  breast  is  pierced 
and  the  skewers  are  passed  through.  Yet  I  had  never  felt  like  asking  the  old 
man  what  the  scars  meant.  To-night  as  he  spoke  to  me  of  the  ancient  times,  he 
told  me  how  they  had  been  made,  and  related  the  story  of  the  Young  Dogs 
Dance,  and  how  the  Pawnees  had  first  learned  it.  He  explained  too  what  this 
suffering  had  meant  to  the  Pawnees  and  why  they  had  endured  it,  and  showed 
me  that  in  its  significance  it  was  precisely  like  that  which  many  cultivated  people 
undergo  to-day,  when  they  fast  during  Lent  or  wear  a  hair  shirt,  or  vow  to  perform 
some  penance.  In  like  manner  it  was  similar  to  the  sacrifice  offered  by  the 
priests  of  Baal,  when,  disputing  with  Elijah,  they  cut  themselves  with  knives  and 
called  on  their  gods  to  help  them.  In  fact  it  expressed  the  belief  common  to  all 
humanity,  that  God — under  whatever  name  he  may  be  known — delights  in  the 
self-sacrifice  of  his  creatures,  in  the  suffering  of  his  worshipers. 

This  was  Pipe  Chief's  story,  told  as  we  sat  by  the  fire  and  smoked  through 
the  long  winter  evening: 

27 


H   -I   1 


28 


THE  INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


Many,  many  years  ago,  when  I  was  a  boy,  there  lived  in  the  village  of  the 
Pawnee  Loups  a  man  named  Medicine  Chief.  He  was  lame.  When  Medicine 
Chief  was  young,  he  had  gone  to  visit  the  Rees  and  had  lived  with  them  for  a 
long  time.  While  he  was  living  in  their  village,  the  Rees  told  him  the  story  of 
the  Young  Dog's  Society  and  Dance,  and  how  tiny  had  first  learned  about  it,  and 
had  come  to  practice  it. 

In  those  days  when  a  Ree  wanted  eagle  feathers  to  tie  on  his  shield  or  lance, 
or  for  a  war  bonnet,  or  to  tie  in  his  hair,  he  used  to  go  out  and  catch  the  eagles, 
and  this  was  the  way  he  <lid  it.  On  the  top  of  the  hill  where  the  eagles  used  to 
come,  he  dug  a  pit  in  the  ground  and  then  covered  it  over  with  a  roof  of  poles 
and  scattered  grass  on  the  poles  so  as  to  hide  them.  He  put  a  piece  of  meat  on 
the  poles,  tying  it  down  so  that  the  eagles  could  not  carry  it  away,  and  then, 
stripping  off  his  clothes,  went  into  the  pit,  and  waited  there  without  food  or  drink 
until  an  eagle  came  down  to  the  bait.  When  the  eagle  had  alighted  and  was 
standing  by  the  bait  the  man  reached  up  between  the  poles,  caught  the  bird  by 
the  feet  and  drew  it  into  the  pit  and  killed  it.  Sometimes  the  eagles  would  not 
come  for  a  long  time,  and  the  man  would  begin  to  think  that  he  was  not  going 
to  catch  any,  and  would  be  very  unhappy. 

A  longtime  before  Medicine  Chief  had  gone  to  the  Ree  village,  a  certain 
Ree  brave  had  gone  out  to  catch  eagles.  One  night  while  he  was  lying  in  the 
pit,  praying  for  good  luck,  he  heard  the  sound  of  drums  beating  a  long  way  off, 
but  he  could  not  tell  from  what  direction  the  noise  came.  He  kept  listening,  and 
all  night  he  heard  the  sound  of  the  drumming.  The  next  night  as  he  lay  there 
he  heard  the  drumming  begin  again,  and  he  got  out  of  the  pit  and  walked  over 
the  prairie  trying  to  follow  the  sound  and  learn  where  it  came  from.  He  followed 
the  sound  till  at  last,  when  it  was  nearly  morning,  he  came  to  the  edge  of  a  great 
deep  lake.  The  sound  of  the  drumming  came  out  of  this  lake.  All  day  he  stayed 
by  this  water,  and  kept  crying  over  his  bad  luck  and  praying  for  help.  When 
night  came,  the  drumming  began  again,  and  after  a  time  he  saw  many  birds  and 
animals  swimming  in  the  water,  and  coming  to  the  shore  and  walking  out  on  the 
land.  He  could  see  ducks  and  geese,  and  dogs  and  beavers  and  otters.  These 
and  many  other  animals  came  out  of  the  water.  For  four  days  he  stayed  by  this 
lake,  crying  to  Atfus  Tiriwa*  and  praying  to  him  for  help,  and  at  last  on  the 
fourth  night  he  fell  asleep,  for  he  was  very  tired,  and  very  hungry,  because  he 
had  had  nothing  to  eat  for  a  long  time. 

While  he  slept  something  must  have  happened,  for  when  he  awoke  he  was 
in  a  large  lodge  in  which  there  were  many  people.  Some  of  them  were  dancing 
and  some  were  sitting  about  the  walls  on  their  robes.    Some  of  the  robes  were 


•Atfas  Tirdwa— Spirit  Father. 


illowed 

a  great 
stayed 
When 

irds  and 
on  the 
These 
by  this 
on  the 

:ause  he 


THREE  FINGERS 

CHEVENNE 


M 


THl-    YOUNG    DOGS  DANCE 


39 


made  of  bear  and  buffalo  and  beaver  and  wolf  skins,  others  were  of  the  skins  of 
birds.  Now  these  people  who  were  in  this  lod^e  were  the  animals  that  he  had 
seen  swimming  in  the  water.  They  had  changed  their  shapes  and  had  become 
persons. 

Not  long  after  this  Ree  man  awoke,  one  of  these  people  who  sat  at  the  back 
of  the  lodge — a  chief— stood  u|)  and  spoke  to  him  and  said : 

"  My  friend,  we  know  how  unhappy  you  feel  and  how  long  you  have  been 
praying.  We  have  listened  to  your  prayers  and  we  have  talked  about  you  and 
have  made  up  our  minds  that  we  will  take  you  in  here  and  you  shall  be  like  one 
of  us,  for  we  feel  sorry  for  you.  You  see  all  these  people  here  in  this  lodge. 
They  stand  for  the  different  animals.  You  see  me;  I  am  the  chief  of  these 
animals,  and  I  am  a  dog.  The  Spirit  Father  who  lives  away  up  in  the  sky  likes 
dogs.  He  has  one  himself.  I  like  your  heart,  and  that  is  why  I  have  taken  pity 
on  you  and  want  to  help  you.  Now  I  have  great  power,  and  this  power  I  will 
give  to  you.  You  shall  be  like  me.  Wherever  you  may  be,  my  spirit  will  be 
with  you,  and  will  help  you  and  protect  you.  You  see  this  dance  which 
these  people  are  dancing  ?  This  dance  I  give  to  you.  Watch  it  carefully  and 
observe  just  what  is  done.  I  give  you  this  dance.  Take  it  home  to  your  people, 
and  let  them  learn  it  and  dance  it.     It  will  make  them  lucky  in  war." 

When  this  man,  the  Dog,  had  finished  speaking  to  the  young  man,  he  turned 
to  the  others  in  the  lodge  and  said  to  them  : 

"  Brothers,  look  at  this  young  man;  you  see  him  and  you  know  how  unhappy 
he  is.  Take  pity  on  him  and  give  him  your  power,  for  I  have  pitied  him  and 
have  given  him  the  power  that  I  have.  Try  to  do  what  you  can  for  him. '  Then 
he  sat  down. 

For  a  little  while  no  one  said  anything.  All  sat  there  looking  at  the  ground, 
or  at  the  fire  that  blazed  in  the  middle  of  the  lodge.  At  last  the  Owl  stood  on 
his  feet  and  spoke  to  the  chief,  saying,  "  I  also  will  do  something  for  this  young 
man."     He  turned  to  the  young  man  and  said  to  him  : 

"When  I  go  about  at  night  I  do  not  care  how  dark  it  may  be,  I  can  see  as 
well  as  if  it  were  day.  You  shall  be  like  me  in  this,  for  in  the  night  you  shall  see 
as  I  do.  Wherever  you  may  go  at  night  I  will  be  with  you.  Take  these  feathers 
and  wear  them  tied  to  your  hair."  As  he  said  this,  he  gave  him  some  feathers 
from  his  back  to  wear  on  his  head.    Then  the  Owl  sat  down. 

The  Buffalo  Bull  sat  next  to  the  Owl,  and  after  a  little  silence  he  stood  up 
and  spoke.     He  said  : 

"  You  shall  be  like  me  too.  Wherever  you  travel  about  my  spirit  shall  be 
with  you.  You  shall  be  strong  and  you  shall  not  get  tired.  You  shall  be  brave 
too.  If  you  see  your  enemy  right  before  you,  you  shall  not  be  afraid,  but  shall 
rush  upon  him  and  shall  knock  him  down  and  run  over  him  as  I  do."     Then  the 


30 


THli   INDIANS  or  TO-DAY 


1    ! 

'r 

1 

J 

Bull  gave  the  youriK  man  a  shoulder  holt  of  tanned  hufTalo  hide,  saying,  "  Wear 
this  wiu-n  you  go  into  battle."      Then  h(;  sat  down. 

After  a  little  while,  the  I'orcupiue  stood  up  and  spoke  to  the  young  man. 
He  said: 

"  I  also  will  do  something  for  you.  I  have  the  power  to  make  my  enemy's 
heart  like  a  woman's,  and  in  this  you  shall  be  like  uu\  Your  enemies  will  fear 
you  and  when  you  tiyht  with  them  you  shall  overcome  them  and  kill  them." 
He  gave  the  young  man  some  quills  from  his  back  to  embroider  the  leather 
shoulder  belt  with,  and  then  he  sat  down. 

When  these  people  were  speakint^,  every  one  else  sat  quiet,  saying  nothing, 
but  listening  to  the  speeches,  while  the  pipe  passed  from  hand  to  hand  and  the 
fire  flickered  and  the  posts  cast  black  shadows  and  the  smoke  rising  toward  the 
smoke  hole  sprrad  out  and  made  a  thin  blue  haze  in  the  top  of  the  lodge.  At 
length  the  Eagle  rose  to  his  feet  and  stood  looking  about  him,  while  everybody 
waited  to  hear  what  he  would  say.     When  he  began  to  speak,  he  said  : 

"Everybody  knows  me,  and  knows  that  I  am  lucky  in  war.  When  I  go  out 
to  fight  I  kill  my  enemies,  and  all  the  others  run  away.  Now  I  too  will  be  with 
you  wherever  you  go,  and  you  shall  kill  your  enemies  as  I  do  mine.  Take 
courage,  therefore,  for  you  shall  be  like  an  eagle. "  He  gave  the  young  man  some 
eagle  tail  feathers  to  tie  on  his  head,  and  to  tie  on  the  shoulder  belt  that  the 
Buffalo  Bull  had  given  him. 

Next  to  the  Eagle  sat  the  Whooping  Crane,  and  when  he  got  on  his  feet  to 
speak,  he  stood  up  very  tall,  and  his  head  reached  up  nearly  to  the  blue  smoke 
that  hung  under  the  roof.     His  voice  was  loud  and  clear  when  he  said: 

"I  know  how  to  scare  my  enemies,  and  in  this  you  shall  be  like  me.  I  will 
be  with  you  wherever  you  go.  When  you  attack  your  enemy,  whistle  on  this, 
and  he  will  be  afraid  and  will  want  to  run  away. '  The  Whooping  Crane  took 
one  of  the  bones  out  of  his  wing  and  gave  it  to  the  young  man,  and  showed  him 
how  to  make  a  war  whistle  out  of  it  to  blow  when  he  went  into  battle. 

Then  the  Deer  stood  up  and  spoke  to  the  young  man  and  said: 

"  I  shall  help  you  too  and  shall  be  with  you  wherever  you  go.  I  can  run  so 
fast  that  no  one  can  catch  me,  and  you  shall  be  able  to  run  as  fast  as  I  do.  Take 
this  rattle  and  when  you  come  close  to  your  enemy,  strike  him  with  it  and  count 
a  coup."  So  the  Deer  gave  him  the  rattle,  a  string  of  little  fawn  hoof  sheaths, 
strung  together  on  a  cord  of  twisted  sinew. 

Next  spoke  the  Bear,  big  and  with  a  gruff  voice: 

"  Everybody  knows  me  and  that  I  am  hard  to  kill.  If  I  am  wounded  I  know 
how  to  cure  myself.  Even  if  I  am  very  badly  hurt,  I  can  make  myself  well  again. 
You  shall  be  like  me.  When  the  bullets  or  the  arrows  of  the  enemy  hit  you,  you 
can  save  yourself.    You  shall  be  able  to  endure  even  great  hardships  " 


I  know 

again. 

^ou,  you 


iiLiiHi.E  uk;  horse 

CIICYE.NNE 


1^ 


^ 


H 


i  i 


THE  YOUNC.    nOCiS    DANCE 


3" 


Thtr  Ucar  thrn  Kavc  him  a  strip  of  fur  from  the  roach  of  his  back  for  a  belt  to 
wear  about  hi»  waist  After  the  Bear,  many  other  animals  spoke  to  the  young 
man,  and  each  one  that  spoke  jjave  him  his  powf-r  or  hiip<'ii  him  in  some  way. 
And  after  they  had  all  t:ik<:n  pity  on  liiin,  and  told  him  all  these  thinKS,  he  ftdl 
asleep  a^ain.  When  he  awoke  and  looked  about  him,  he  saw  that  he  was  at  the 
same  place  where  he  had  lain  down  by  the  bi({  lake  in  which  he  had  seen  the 
animals  swimming'  For  a  lon^  time  he  sat  there,  thinkin^^  of  what  he  had  heard 
and  seen,  and  then  he  ^ot  up  and  went  home  to  the  camp. 

When  he  reached  home,  he  cal'ed  the  youn^  men  together  and  told  them 
what  he  had  seen  and  heard,  and  showed  them  the  dance  as  the  animals  had 
shown  it  to  him,  and  the  different  thinj^s  that  they  had  given  to  him;  and  he  told 
them  that  this  dance  would  make  them  lucky  in  war.  While  he  was  showing 
them  the  dance,  the  young  man  did  many  wonderful  tilings  before  the  people. 
So  the  young  men  formed  a  society  which  they  called  Young  Dogs,  and  many 
were  taught  the  dance.  Any  young  man  who  wanted  to  join  this  society  was 
taken  into  it  and  shown  the  dance,  and  the  ornaments  were  put  on  him,  as  the 
animals  had  put  them  on  the  young  Ree  when  he  had  been  in  the  animals'  lodge. 

It  was  a  long  time  after  all  these  things  happened  that  Medicine  Chief  was 
visiting  the  Rees,  and  he  stopped  for  a  long  time  in  their  village.  While  he  was 
there  he  saw  this  dance,  and  he  liked  it,  for  it  was  a  war  dance.  He  was  taken  into 
the  society,  and  the  Rees  gave  him  the  secrets  of  the  dance.  So,  when  he 
got  back  to  his  own  tribe,  he  told  his  people,  the  Pawnee  Loups,  about  the  dance 
and  advised  them  to  take  it  up  and  learn  it.     All  this  happened  before  I  was  born. 

When  1  was  a  big  boy,  growing  up,  almost  a  young  man,  old  enough  to  go  to 
war.  Medicine  Chief  was  the  leader  of  the  Young  Dogs  Society.  He  was  a  very 
old  man.  When  I  considered  this  Society,  1  saw  that  those  who  belonged  to  it 
were  the  men  1  wished  to  be  like  ;  they  were  great  warriors,  men  who  had  but 
one  heart,  those  who  stood  foremost  of  all  men  by  their  victories  over  their 
enemies.     They  took  many  horses  and  were  rich. 

Now  a  man  who  wanted  to  learn  the  secrets  of  this  society  and  how  to 
practice  this  dance  had  to  go  through  a  hard  trial.  He  had  to  dance  for  a  long 
time  without  food  or  drink,  until  he  was  very  tired,  and  hungry,  and  thirsty,  and 
he  had  to  have  his  flesh  pierced  and  cords  tied  to  his  skin  and  he  had  to  pull 
himself  free  from  the  cords  by  tearing  them  out  of  his  skin.  He  had  to  endure 
the  sufferings  that  a  warrior  bears. 

I  had  a  friend  named  Big  Spotted  Horse  who  belonged  to  the  Young  Dogs 
Society.  At  the  time  he  was  dancing  and  fasting  so  as  to  learn  the  secret  of  the 
dance,  the  Sioux  came  down  to  fight  us,  and  we  all  went  out  to  meet  them.  At 
this  time  he  was  wearing  the  ornaments  which  belonged  to  the  dance.  In  the 
fight  Spotted  Horse,  who  was  in  the  front  of  the  battle,  was  wounded  in  the  arm, 


^■nr 


li 


'i  S  I 


3* 


THIi   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


but  even  though  he  was  wounded,  he  rode  right  over  his  enemy  and  struck  him. 
Soon  after  this,  he  got  the  secrets  of  this  dance,  and  after  that  became  a  great 
warrior,  and  every  time  he  went  on  the  warpath  against  his  enemies  he  would 
bring  back  many  horses  and  scalps.    At  last  he  became  a  chief. 

I  used  to  talk  with  my  friend  Spotted  Horse  about  the  dance,  for  I  had  seen 
with  my  own  eyes  the  great  things  that  he  had  done  and  how  fortunate  he  had 
been  in  war  ever  since  joining  it,  and  I  had  thou^^fht  a  great  deal  about  joining 
it  myself.  He  told  me  that  all  his  luck  came  from  this  dance,  and  that  he 
believed  that  the  dog  which  lived  up  above  with  Tir4wa  was  taking  pity  on  him 
and  helping  him,  and  he  advised  me  to  join  the  society.  At  length  I  made  up 
my  mind  that  I  would  do  this  and  1  went  to  the  old  man,  Medicine  Chief,  and 
said  :  "  Grandfather,  I  am  very  poor  in  my  mind  and  want  to  be  taken  into  this 
society.  I  am  willing  to  do  whatever  must  be  done,  for  I  do  not  care  what 
becomes  of  me,  for  I  am  very  unhappy  and  have  always  been  unlucky."  On  the 
day  when  I  was  taken  in,  we  began  to  dance,  I  and  fourteen  others.  We  were 
obliged  to  dance  for  four  days  and  four  nights  without  eating  or  drinking,  and 
Medicine  Chief  told  us  to  fix  our  eyes  on  the  Sun  as  we  danced  and  at  night  to 
look  at  the  Moon.  On  this  day  while  we  were  dancing,  there  were  in  the  lodge 
with  us  people  belonging  to  the  society;  some  were  making  shoulder  belts,  others 
tying  up  owl  feathers  to  wear  in  the  head,  others  making  ready  eagle  feathers, 
and  four  women  were  putting  porcupine  quills  on  the  belts. 

The  man  whose  duty  it  was  to  pierce  the  breasts  of  the  young  braves  for 
this  suffering  was  named  Pahu  K4tawah.*  He  was  a  great  warrior  and  had 
struck  his  enemies  many  times.  He  pierced  my  breast  and  put  the  wooden 
skewers  through  the  skin  and  tied  them  to  the  ropes  and  strung  me  up.  While 
he  was  doing  this  Pahu  Katawah  was  praying  to  Tirawa  asking  that  he  would 
take  pity  on  me,  as  he  had  taken  pity  on  him.  So  I  began  to  dance  and  to  try 
to  break  loose  and  I  kept  dancing  day  and  night. 

Now  of  those  who  danced,  some  looked  at  the  Sun  and  at  the  Moon  and 
some  looked  at  the  buffalo  bull's  head,  for  they  wanted  the  Buffalo  Bull  to  take 
pity  on  them,  and  as  the  young  men  looked  at  the  Sun  or  the  Moon  or  the  bull's 
head,  they  prayed  in  their  heart  for  pity  and  help. 

As  we  danced  people  stood  about  us  looking  on:  the  warriors  singing  war 
songs  to  cheer  on  the  young  men,  or  shouting  the  war  cry,  and  the  women  sing- 
ing too,  and  making  their  cry  to  encourage  the  others.  They  shouted  as  if  it 
were  in  battle. 

There  was  one  young  man  who  was  looking  at  the  bull's  head  and  praying 
to  it  as  he  danced,  and  while  he  prayed  and  danced  and  looked  at  it,  suddenly 


•  Pahu  KAtawah,  Knee  print  by  the  water. 


i 


1 


png  war 
m  sing- 
as  if  it 

Laying 
iddenly 


u  iiiTi'.  mil  \i() 

CHEYENNE 


II" 


( 

r 

( 

■ 

', 

r 

r: 

i 

THE  YOUNG  DOGS  DANCE 


33 


it  seemed  to  him  that  the  Bull's  head  was  all  covered  with  blood,  and  he  began 
to  cry,  for  this  was  a  bad  sign  and  meant  bad  luck  for  him.  When  Medicine 
Chief  learned  why  he  was  crying,  he  told  him  to  stop  dancing  and  to  sit 
down. 

I  was  of  those  who  looked  at  the  Sun  and  the  Moon  ;  and  the  third  night  of 
the  dancing,  as  1  looked  at  the  Moon  high  in  the  sky,  1  saw  hanging  down  from 
it  many  ropes  made  of  buffalo  hair  such  as  we  used  to  make.  Some  of  these 
ropes  were  long  and  some  short.  But  there  was  one  longer  than  all  the  rest 
and  at  the  end  of  this  rope  I  saw  a  horse.  1  kept  on  dancing,  and  as  I  danced  I 
kept  jumping  up,  and  trying  to  seize  the  rope,  and  at  last  I  caught  the  rope  to 
which  the  horse  was  tied  and  held  it  in  my  hand  as  1  kept  on  dancing. 

On  the  fourth  day,  which  was  the  last  of  the  dance,  I  tore  loose  from  the 
sticks  that  were  through  my  breast  and  Pahu  K^tawah  led  me  around  the  ring 
four  times,  and  then  had  me  stand  in  front  of  Medicine  Chief,  who  put  on  me 
the  different  ornaments,  one  by  one,  in  the  order  in  which  they  had  been  given 
by  the  animals  to  the  Ree  brave  who  first  received  them. 

Some  time  after  this  dance  was  over,  Spotted  Horse  determined  to  make  a 
journey  to  war  and  he  led  us  about  through  the  village,  dancing,  to  get  us  ready. 
We  started,  and  went  far  up  on  the  head  of  the  South  Platte  River,  close  to  the 
Rocky  Mountains.  As  we  were  traveling  along,  we  came  to  a  trail  where  a 
number  of  people  had  passed,  and  thi;.  trail  led  into  the  mountains.  We  followed 
it,  and  when  it  became  fresher.  Spotted  Horse  sent  me  with  another  ahead  of  the 
party  to  follow  the  trail  and  see  where  the  camp  was.  We  followed  this  trail,  and 
at  length,  when  we  looked  over  a  hill,  we  saw  close  to  us  a  large  herd  of  horses, 
and  beyond  them  the  camp.  Then  we  turned  about,  and  came  back  to  our  party 
and  told  Spotted  Horse  what  we  had  seen. 

Here  we  held  a  council  to  decide  what  we  should  do,  whether  to  attack  the 
camp  and  try  to  kill  some  people,  or  to  drive  off  the  horses.  We  decided  to 
take  the  horses.    The  people  of  this  camp  were  Cheyennes. 

Before  we  started,  we  prayed  and  made  sacrifices  to  Tiriwa  ana  vo  the  Sun 
and  Moon  and  Stars.  After  night  had  come,  we  went  down  to  the  camp,  and 
while  the  young  men  gathered  up  the  horses  that  were  on  the  hills,  older 
warriors  went  into  the  camp  and  cut  loose  those  tied  in  front  of  the  lodges.  We 
drove  off  these  horses — about  300 — among  them  many  spotted  horses  and  mules. 
All  that  night  and  the  next  day  and  the  second  night  and  day,  we  rode  very  fast, 
but  after  that  we  went  more  slowly.  On  the  seventh  day  we  sat  down  in  a  circle 
and  divided  the  horses. 

So  Tirdwa  had  taken  pity  on  us  and  helped  us  through  the  power  of  this 
dance. 


I  'I 


CHAPTER  V 


THE    BUFFALO   WIFE 


The  story  of  the  Buffalo  Wife  is  a  story  of  long  ago,  of  a  time  before  the 
Indians  had  horses,  creatures  which  they  perhaps  first  saw  when  Coronado's 
wandering  forces,  searching  for  the  cities  of  Cibola,  penetrated  the  Grand 
Quivera  and  came  to  the  watershed  of  the  Missouri  River.  It  was  so  long  ago 
that  the  buffalo  were  scarce,  and  were  seldom  secured  for  food  by  the  people. 
Possibly  it  goes  back  to  a  day  when  the  tribe  lived  only  on  the  border  of  the 
buffalo's  range.  Or  it  may  merely  mean  that  the  buffalo,  big  and  strong  and 
swift  of  foot,  and  protected  by  the  thick  hide  with  its  dense  coat,  were  but 
seldom  captured  by  primitive  man,  whose  best  weapon  was  a  stone-headed 
arrow.  For  in  the  country  inhabited  by  the  Pawnees,  in  that  prehistoric  time, 
they  must  have  depended  for  buffalo  chiefly  on  their  arrows.  There  were  few  or 
no  cliffs  there  over  which  the  brown  herds  could  be  hurled  to  destruction  ;  there 
was  little  or  no  timber  which  could  be  used  for  making  pens  or  corrals,  such  as 
were  constructed  by  other  tribes  which  lived  closer  to  the  mountains. 

To  the  Indians  their  sacred  bundles  were,  and  are,  as  the  Ark  of  the 
Covenant  to  the  Hebrews.  They  were  the  most  sacred  things  they  pos- 
sessed, and  were  regarded  with  the  deepest  veneration.  This  story  tells  how  the 
Pawnees  obtained  a  certain  sacred  bundle,  which  was  especially  efficacious  when 
the  buffalo  could  not  be  found  near  at  hand  on  the  prairie,  and  they  wished  to 
draw  the  herds  to  them.  When  such  necessity  arose,  the  priests  and  the  aged 
men  who  were  learned  in  such  matters,  made  their  prayers  to  the  Spirit  Father, 
opened  the  sacred  bundle,  and  with  elaborate  ceremonial  performed  their 
religious  rites.  Soon  after  this  had  been  done,  the  buffalo  would  make  their 
appearance  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  camp,  or  would  be  discovered  by  the 
far-traveling  and  swift-footed  scouts  sent  out  from  the  village. 

The  stick  game  is  a  favorite  athletic  diversion  of  the  Pawnee  youth.  It  is 
played  by  rolling  along  the  ground  a  rawhide  wheel  or  ring,  six  or  eight  inches 
in  diameter,  through  which  two  contesting  players  try  to  throw  the  long  slender 
sticks  with  which  they  play.  Perhaps  this  game,  so  much  enjoyed  and  so 
constantly  played  by  the  Pawnee,  gave  him  the  tough  muscles,  and  the  unending 
endurance  which  led  him  cheerfully  to  travel  hundreds  of  miles  on  foot  on  the 
warpath,  in  search  of  the  camps  of  his  enemies. 

The  supernatural  powers  of  the  buffalo  cow,  and  of  her  husband,  are  note- 
worthy.   To  the  virtue  of  the  down  feather  given  the  hero   by  the  eagle  is 

3S 


^m 


;>'' 


TlIK   INIMANS  OF  TO- DAY 


ascribed   his  preservation  when  attacked   by  the   buffalo, 
were  believed  to  have  more  or  less  power  of  this  nature. 

I 


Many  wild  animals 


In  the  Pawnee  tribe  there  once  lived  a  youn^  man  who  was  handsome  and 
always  took  great  care  how  he  looked.  He  used  to  comb  his  hair  and  paint  him- 
self, and  put  on  his  finest  clothts  i'  nd  go  about  through  the  village.  This  young 
man  had  never  had  a  wife.  He  did  not  care  for  women  and  never  looked  at 
them.  He  was  a  good  hunter  and  warrior,  and  was  brave.  He  had  some  power 
too.  The  birds  had  taken  pity  on  him  and  had  given  him  some  of  their  things. 
In  the  lodge  where  he  lived,  on  his  bundle,  there  was  the  down  feather  of  an 
eagle  which  he  used  to  tie  on  his  head  when  he  went  to  war. 

One  day  they  went  out  on  a  hunt,  hunting  buffalo,  on  foot,  as  they  used  to 
do  in  the  olden  times.  They  found  the  buffalo  and  surrounded  them,  but  the 
buffalo  broke  through  the  line  and  ran  all  ways,  and  the  Pawnees  got  separated, 
some  following  one  little  bunch  and  some  another.  This  young  man  chased  a 
small  band  and  followed  them  a  long  way,  and  at  last  they  ran  into  a  ravine 
where  there  was  water  standing  and  deep  mud.  Some  of  the  buffalo  got  mired 
down,  but  pulled  themselves  out  before  the  young  man  came  close.  But  one 
young  cow  was  in  the  deep  mud  and  going  through  it  slowly.  The  young  man 
ran  fast  and  came  up  to  her  just  as  she  was  getting  out,  and  he  put  an  arrow  on 
his  bow-string  to  shoot  her,  but  when  he  looked  to  shoot,  there  was  no  buffalo 
there,  but  a  woman  was  walking  away  from  the  edge  of  the  mud  hole.  The 
young  man  wondered  at  this,  for  he  ilid  not  know  where  the  cow  hatl  gone,  nor 
where  the  woman  had  come  from.  She  was  a  nice  looking  girl,  and  the  man 
knew  she  did  not  belong  to  his  tribe.  But  he  liked  her  and  spoke  to  her  and 
they  talked  together.  After  a  little  while,  the  man  told  her  that  he  liked  her 
and  asked  her  if  she  would  be  his  wife.  He  said,  "My  camp  is  not  far;  come 
with  me  there.  I  have  a  good  lodge  and  plenty  to  eat."  But  the  girl  said,  "  No, 
I  am  strange  to  your  relations  and  to  your  people  1  do  not  know  them.  I  like 
you  and  I  will  be  your  wife,  but  only  if  you  will  first  promise  that  we  shall  live 
alone  off  here  by  ourselves  for  a  time."  The  man  said,  "  Very  well,  I  will 
promise.  Let  it  be  so."  So  he  took  her  for  his  wife  and  they  camped  for  some 
time  by  themselves  on  the  creek  near  by.  He  gave  her  a  string  of  beads  that 
he  wore  about  his  neck,  blue  beads  and  white,  very  pretty,  and  tied  them  about 
her  neck. 

After  a  little  while  the  buffalo  moved  further  off,  so  that  when  the  man  went 
out  hunting  he  had  to  start  early  in  the  morning  and  be  gone  all  day.  One  day 
he  went  out  for  meat,  and  at  night  when  he  got  back  to  his  camp,  there  was  no 
camp  there,  but  all  over  the  fiat,  where  his  lodge  had  stood,  were  tracks  of  a  big 


BSlMJJIIIt    .J^.,T*-«^  ., 


i 


No. 

like 
live 
will 
some 
that 

30Ut 

went 

day 

IS  no 

big 


ClIIi:i"  WOI.K  RdRK 

CHKYENNE 


^i 


THE   BUFFALO  WIFE 


37 


herd  of  buffalo  ;  many  tracks  and  deep  in  the  ground,  as  if  they  had  been 
runnin);  fast.  Then  he  knew  what  had  happened,  that  a  herd  of  buffalo  had 
come  and  had  stampeded  and  run  over  his  camp  and  destroyed  it,  and  trampled 
his  wife.  He  cried  all  that  night,  and  the  next  day  he  looked  everywhere  to 
find  his  wife's  body,  that  he  might  bury  her,  but  he  could  not  find  any  part  of  it. 
The  buffalo  must  have  stamped  it  all  into  the  ground.  He  mourned  for  his  wife 
for  a  lung  time,  and  at  last  he  went  back  to  his  tribe  and  lived  with  them,  going 
about  as  he  used  to  do  ;  but  he  told  no  one  of  what  had  happened  to  him  while  he 
was  away.  Perhaps  the  people  thought  he  had  been  off  alone  on  the  warpath. 
He  did  not  take  another  wife. 

II 

Some  years  after  this,  one  day  in  summer,  he  was  playing  the  stick  game 
with  the  other  young  men,  when  a  little  boy  came  toward  them  from  a  ravine 
near  by,  and  said  to  him,  "  Father,  Mother  wants  you."  The  young  man  looked 
at  the  boy,  and  saw  that  he  did  not  know  him,  and  said,  "  I  do  not  know  your 
mother,"  and  paid  no  more  attention  to  him.  The  little  boy  went  away.  After 
a  short  while  the  boy  came  again  and  said,  "  Father,  Mother  wants  you  to  come 
to  her."  The  young  man  said,  "  I  am  not  your  father  and  I  do  not 
know  your  mother.  Go  away."  The  little  boy  went  away.  Some  of 
the  young  men  when  they  heard  the  little  boy  call  him  "  father," 
laughed  at  him,  for  they  knew  he  had  never  married  and  that  he  did  not  like 
women.  After  a  little  while  the  boy  came  again,  and  said,  "  Father,  Mother  says 
you  must  come  to  her  ;  she  wants  to  speak  to  you."  Then  the  young  man  was 
angry,  and  spoke  roughly  to  the  boy,  and  sent  him  away.  Some  of  the  young 
men  said  to  him,  "  Why  not  go  and  see  what  it  is,  or  who  wants  you?"  As  the 
little  boy  turned  away  the  last  time,  the  young  man  noticed  on  his  neck  a  string 
of  blue  and  white  beads,  and  he  said  to  himself, "  Where  have  1  seen  those  beads 
before?"  Then  he  tried  to  remember  about  them,  and  while  he  was  standing 
there  thinking,  he  saw  a  buffalo  cow  and  calf  come  out  of  the  ravine  and  run 
off  over  the  prairie.  Then  all  at  once  he  knew  where  he  had  seen  those  beads 
before. 

Ill 

He  went  home  to  his  lodge  and  put  aside  his  sticks  and  took  his  bow  and 
arrows  and  started  off  after  the  buffalo  cow  and  calf.  He  followed  them  fast 
and  far,  but  he  could  not  catch  up  to  them.  The  sun  was  hot,  and  after  a  time 
he  began  to  get  thirsty,  but  the  cow  was  angry  with  him,  and  every  time  she 
crossed  a  ravine  in  which  there  was  water  flowing,  she  would  make  it  dry. 
After  a  while  the  man  got  very  thirsty,  and  it  seemed  to  him  that  he  could  not  go 


^1^ 


3« 


THK   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


fiirthor  unloss  he  tlraiik.  While  he  was  thinking  about  this,  th«:  lalf  U-ft  its 
mother  and  ran  back  and  spoke  to  him,  and  said,  "  I'athcr,  are  you  tired?"  His 
father  said,  "  Yes  my  son,  I  am  tired  and  very  thirsty."  The  calf  ran  fcjrward 
ajjain  to  its  motlier's  side,  and  said  to  her,  "  Mother,  I''ath«T  says  he  is  tired  and 
thirsty."  The  cow  said  nothing.  Then  the  calf  ran  back  to  the  man  and  said, 
"  I-ather,  I  will  tell  my  mother  that  I  am  thirsty  and  tiien  at  the  next  ravine- 
she  will  give  me  some  water  to  drink.  When  you  come  to  it,  you  look  for 
a  lump  of  hard  mud.  When  you  see  that,  lift  it  up,  and  under  it  you  will  find 
water." 

They  ran  on,  and  as  they  came  to  the  next  ravine,  the  cow  made  it  dry,  but 
the  calf  said  to  its  mother,  "Mother,  I  am  thirsty."  The  cow  said,  "Come,  I  will 
give  you  some  water."  Down  in  the  bottom  of  the  ravine  she  stopped  and 
stamped  her  hoof  in  the  i^round  and  the  hoof  print  became  full  of  water.  Then 
she  ran  on.  The  calf  put  his  mouth  down  as  if  to  drink,  but  as  soon  as  his 
mother  had  gone  on,  he  took  a  piece  of  mud  and  put  it  over  the  hoof  mark  and 
then  ran  on.  When  the  man  had  come  to  the  place  he  looked  about  and  saw 
the  cake  of  dry  mud  and  lifted  it  up,  and  saw  there  water,  and  he  drank  and  felt 
better  and  went  on.  As  the  sun  got  low  toward  the  west,  he  saw  far  ahead  of 
him  a  white  lodge,  and  he  knew  that  this  was  where  his  wife  was  camped.  At 
night  he  got  to  it  and  lay  down  on  the  ground  a  little  way  off.  He  was  afraid  to 
go  close  to  the  lodge.  The  buffalo  had  changed  to  persons  again.  In  the  daytime 
they  were  Duffalo,  but  at  ni^jht  they  were  people.  His  little  boy  came  out  and 
spoke  to  him,  and  then  went  in  and  said  to  his  mother,  "Mother,  Father  is  out 
there,  very  tired."  The  woman  answered  nothing,  but  the  boy  came  out  and 
played  with  his  father. 

Next  morninjj  the  buffalo  ran  on  again  and  the  man  followed  them.  He 
was  now  getting  pretty  hungry.  After  the  middle  of  the  day  the  calf  ran  back 
to  him  and  said,  "  Father,  are  you  hungry  ?"  The  man  said,  "Yes,  my  son,  I  am 
hungry."  The  calf  said,  "  I  will  try  to  get  my  mother  to  give  you  some  food." 
The  calf  ran  back  to  its  mother  and  said  to  her,  "  Mother,  Father  is  hungry." 
The  cow  did  not  answer.  She  just  ran  on.  After  a  time  the  calf  said  to  the 
cow,  "  Mother,  I  am  hungry."  She  gave  it  a  little  piece  of  pounded  buffalo  meat 
and  tallow,  and  the  calf  took  it  and  fell  behind.  Pretty  soon  he  ran  back  to  his 
father  and  gave  him  the  meat  and  said,  "  Father,  here  is  something  (o:  you  to 
eat.  Eat  this,  and  when  you  have  eaten  enough,  put  what  is  left  in  your  quiver." 
The  man  looked  at  the  small  piece  of  meat  and  thought,  "Why,  this  is  only  a 
mouthful.  I  could  eat  ten  pieces  like  this."  But  he  said  nothing  and  the  calf 
ran  back  to  its  mother.  The  man  took  one  bite  of  the  meat,  and  then  another, 
and  kept  on  eating  until  his  hunger  was  satisfied,  and  there  was  still  left  a  piece 
of  the  meat,  and  he  put  it  in  his  quiver  and  ran  on.    That  night  when  he  came 


ily 


ca 


If 


Ither, 
liece 
tame 


■■y 
I 


JOII\   MASKWAS 

I11TTAWATOMI 


1 


i! 


'!< 


THE   BUMALO  WIFE 


.W 


to  thr  Indgtr  whrrr  the  womun  wan,  he  lay  down  a  littU>  closer  to  it  than  the 
nii{ht  hrfore,  and  hin  hoy  came  out  and  played  with  him. 

The  next  day  thry  ran  on  and  the  man  ran  after  thrm.  By  this  time  he  was 
f^ettinK  tired,  '{"hat  day  the  calf  ran  back  and  said,  "  I'ather,  are  youtircdi'" 
The  man  said,  "Yes,  my  son,  I  am  tired."  The  calf  ran  forward  ant!  saiti  to  its 
mother,  '  Mother,  I  am  tired."  The  cow  shook  her  tail  over  the  calf  to  restore 
its  strength.  Then  the  calf  ran  hack  and  shook  its  tail  over  its  father.  It 
thought  this  would  take  his  weariness  from  him 

Kvery  day  they  ran  on,  and  eacli  ni^ht  the  man  lay  a  little  closer  to  the 
lodge  where  i.ic  woman  slept,  until  at  last  he  lay  down  right  by  the  door,  and 
the  next  night  he  went  in.  She  sat  there  by  the  fire  with  her  back  toward  him, 
and  her  long  hair  hanging  down  on  each  side,  so  that  it  hid  her  face.  She  wore 
a  buffalo  robe.     She  neither  looked  at  him  nor  spoke  to  him. 

They  ran  on  for  many  days.  One  day  the  calf  said  to  the  cow,  "  Mother, 
where  are  we  taking  Father?"  She  said,  "We  are  taking  him  to  where  your 
grandfathers  will  kill  him." 


IV 


At  last  one  day,  as  the  man  went  over  a  hill,  he  saw,  on  the  ridge  before  him, 
all  the  buffalo  drawn  up  in  line.  All  the  biggest  bulls  were  there,  and  they 
pawed  the  ground  and  shook  their  heads  and  grunted.  They  seemed  to  be 
angry.  The  man  ran  on  down  toward  the  buffalo  camp.  When  he  got  there, 
the  chief  bulls  told  him  that  they  were  going  to  kill  him,  but  they  said:  "  If  you 
can  tell  which  is  your  wife,  we  will  save  you."  They  took  six  cows,  all  exactly 
alike,  and  put  them  in  line  on  the  prairie,  and  said  to  the  man:  "  Now,  which 
one  of  these  is  your  wife?"  The  calf  had  come  to  its  father  and  said:  "  Father, 
I  will  be  playing  about  my  mother,  and  1  will  draw  my  tongue  over  her  hip, 
just  by  the  tail.  Look  for  the  mark.  That  will  be  my  mother."  The  man 
walked  up  in  front  of  the  cows  and  looked  carefully  at  them.  They  were  all 
alike.  Then  he  walked  behind  them  and  all  around  them.  On  one.  by  the  tail, 
he  saw  where  the  calf  had  licked  it.  This  cow  was  the  third  from  one  end  of 
the  line.  He  walked  round  in  front  of  them  and  went  up  to  this  cow  and 
pointed  to  her  and  said:    "  This  is  my  wife." 

The  chief  bulls  were  all  surprised,  but  still  they  were  angry,  and  the  next 
day  they  said:  "  We  will  kill  you  if  you  cannot  pick  out  your  son."  Before  the 
time  came,  the  calf  said  to  him:  "Father,  I  will  have  a  cocklebur  in  my  tail. 
Look  for  that,  and  when  you  walk  round  in  front  of  me,  I  will  wink  my  eyes." 
The  chief  bulls  picked  out  five  other  calves,  all  alike,  and  put  the  six  in  line. 
The  man  looked  at  them,  and  then  walked  slowly  round  them,  and  he  saw  that 


40 


THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


< 


one  of  the  calves  at  the  end  of  the  line  had  a  cocklebiir  in  its  tail,  and  when  he 
came  round  in  front  of  them,  this  calf  winked  its  eyes.  So  he  walked  up  to  it, 
and  said:    "  That  is  my  son." 

After  he  had  picked  out  his  son,  the  buffalo  were  still  angry.  They  told 
him  that  he  must  run  a  race,  and  that  if  he  beat  their  runners,  they  would  let 
him  go.  So  they  picked  out  their  best  runners,  all  the  fastest  young  ')ulls,  and 
they  were  put  in  line  to  start.  But  the  night  before  they  ran  it  rained  so  that 
the  ground  was  wet,  and  then  it  froze,  and  the  buffalo  slipped  and  sprawled  on 
the  ice  and  could  not  run  at  all.  Hut  the  young  man  ran  straight  on  and  beat 
them  all. 

Then  the  chief  bulls  were  surprised  again,  but  they  were  still  angry.  They 
held  a  council  about  this,  and  finally  determined  that  they  would  kill  him  any- 
how. So  they  told  him  to  sit  down  on  the  ground.  He  did  so  and  drew  his 
robe  about  him.  Then  all  the  strongest  bulls  made  a  rush  together  where  he 
sat,  and  their  heads  struck  together  and  they  pushed,  and  the  dust  rose  from  the 
ground,  and  the  feather  from  the  man's  head  was  in  the  air  floating  over  the 
herd,  over  where  he  had  been  sitting.  Then  all  the  bulls  said:  "Stop,  stop,  he 
is  trampled  to  pieces  by  this  time.  Now  let  us  see  how  much  there  is  left  of 
him."  And  they  drew  back  in  a  circle  and  looked,  and  there  the  man  sat  in  the 
same  place,  and  the  feather  was  on  his  head.  Then  the  bulls  all  rushed  at  him 
again  from  all  sides,  and  they  came  together  with  great  force,  so  that  some  of 
them  broke  their  horns,  and  they  pushed  and  struggled  for  a  long  time,  and 
over  the  place  where  the  man  sat  the  feather  floated.  At  last,  the  bulls  said: 
"  Well,  now,  surely,  we  have  trampled  him  to  pieces.  He  is  all  mixed  up  with 
the  dirt."  Then  they  drew  back  to  look,  and  there  sat  the  man  in  the  same 
place  with  his  robe  drawn  about  him,  as  before,  and  the  feather  was  on  his 
head. 

Then  the  bulls  saw  that  he  really  had  power,  and  they  took  him  into  their 
camp.  They  said:  "We  can  do  nothing  with  him.  She  is  his  wife  now.  We 
will  give  her  to  him,  and  the  boy,  and  will  send  them  back  to  his  people.  But 
they  shall  return  to  us  and  bring  us  blue  beads,  tobacco,  eagle  feathers,  and  a 
pipe,  and  after  they  have  come  back  we  will  tell  them  what  we  will  do."  When 
the  little  calf  heard  this  he  jumped  about  and  kicked  up  his  heels  and  ran  round 
and  round,  with  his  tail  sticking  in  the  air.  He  was  glad.  The  other  calves  in 
the  herd  had  made  fun  of  him  because  he  had  no  father  there.  They  had 
said:  "You  big-eyed  fellow,  you  don't  belong  here.  You  have  no  father  here. 
You  belong  somewhere  else."  The  calf  said  to  his  father:  "  Oh,  my  father! 
They  are  going  to  send  us  back  to  your  people  and  you  are  to  get  some  things, 
and  after  you  have  brought  back  these  things  to  my  grandfathers,  and  my 
uncles,  and  all  my  relations,  they  are  going  to  talk  good  to  you." 


i«Si^ 


■* 


I'l.A   TWV    TICK 

oAC   AND    FOX 


in 


THE   BUFFALO  WIFE 


41 


V 

They  started  back  to  the  village.  The  man  was  changed  into  a  buffalo  so 
they  might  travel  faster.  One  young  bull  would  come  up  to  him  and  push  him 
about  and  rub  against  him,  and  the  other  buffalo  would  crowd  against  him 
and  push  him,  and  the  first  thing  the  man  knew  he  was  changed  into  a  buffalo. 
Then  he  fought  with  the  young  bull,  and  after  a  while  the  bull  gave  out,  and  the 
man,  woman  and  boy,  in  shape  of  buffalo,  started  for  the  village. 

When  ihey  got  close  to  the  village,  they  stopped  in  a  ravine.  There  they 
threw  themselves  down  on  the  ground,  and  when  they  got  up  they  were  persons. 
They  went  into  the  village  and  into  the  lodge.  When  they  got  there  the  woman 
was  frightened.  The  smell  of  human  beings  made  her  afraid.  The  young 
man's  father  was  there  in  the  lodge  asleep.  The  young  man  told  his  father  to 
get  up,  and  to  make  a  fire,  and  he  did  so.  The  wife  sat  down  by  the  fire  with 
her  back  toward  it.  The  young  man  asked  his  father  for  some  food,  but  the 
father  said  they  had  nothing  to  eat  in  the  camp.  Then  the  young  man  asked 
his  wife  to  give  him  some  meat.  She  took  out  from  under  her  robe  a  big  piece 
of  fat  buffalo  meat.  The  young  man  told  his  fathe-  to  go  out  and  ask  the  chiefs 
and  his  relations  for  the  presents  that  he  wanted  to  take  back.  Then  the  father 
went  out  and  walked  through  the  camp  and  called  out  to  his  relations  that  his 
son  had  come  back,  and  wanted  these  presents  to  take  away.  Pretty  soon  the 
people  came  bringing  the  things.  Some  brought  eagle  feathers,  some  beads, 
and  some  tobacco.  They  ate  of  the  meat  that  the  women  had  given,  and  then 
the  young  man  told  the  people  that  he  had  come  back  on  purpose  to  get  these 
presents,  and  that  he  was  going  far  off  with  them,  and  that  when  he  returned 
he  would  bring  with  him  good  news  which  he  would  tell  them.  He  made  a 
bundle  of  all  these  things,  and  he  and  his  wife  and  boy  went  out  of  the  lodge 
and  left  the  camp. 

When  they  had  come  to  the  ravine  he  told  his  wife  to  make  herself  a  buf- 
falo. She  threw  herself  on  the  ground  and  became  a  buffalo  cow,  and  the  man 
tied  on  her  head  a  bundle  of  presents.  Then  the  little  boy  said  he  wanted  to 
carry  something.  He  wanted  to  carry  the  beads  and  the  tobacco — the  beads 
because  they  were  pretty  and  the  tobacco  because  his  grandfathers  liked  that. 
He  made  himself  a  buffalo  calf  and  carried  these  things.  Last  of  all,  the  man 
became  a  buffalo.  He  carried  nothing.  They  traveled,  and  traveled,  and 
traveled,  until  they  came  to  the  buffalo  camp.  Some  old  buffalo  who  were 
poor,  had  started  out  to  meet  them.  They  were  afraid  that  there  might  not  be 
presents  enough  for  everybody,  and  that  they  might  get  nothing.  The  man 
gave  them  some  presents,  tying  the  things  to  their  horns.  When  he  got  to  the 
camp,  he  found  the  bulls  all  drawn  up  in  line,  watching  to  see  them  come,  and 
the  cows  and  calves  behind.    They  were  glad  to  see  him.    The  man  became 


42 


THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


a  person  again  and  smoked  with  the  chief  bulls  and  gave  them  presents.  Then 
he  went  and  stood  on  a  little  hill,  while  all  the  buffalo  filed  by  one  after 
another,  and  to  each  one  he  gave  a  present;  to  one  some  tobacco,  to  another 
an  eagle's  feather,  and  to  another  some  beads,  tying  the  things  to  their 
horns  ;  and  as  they  went  away,  they  were  glad  and  tossed  their  heads  and  felt 
proud  of  their  gifts. 

Then  the  chief  bulls  said  to  him:  "  We  know  that  your  people  are  poor  and 
that  they  are  often  hungry,  and  we  will  go  back  with  you  to  your  camp."  The 
whole  herd  started  for  the  Pawnee  camp.  Before  they  got  there  the  little  boy 
told  his  father  that  he  and  his  mother  could  go  to  the  camp,  but  that  he  would 
like  to  stay  with  the  buffalo;  that  he  wanted  to  see  how  the  people  did  when 
they  killed  buffalo  ;  to  see  whether  they  could  catch  him.  The  father  said  that 
he  might  stay.  The  main  herd  of  the  buffalo  stopped  not  far  from  the  village, 
and  they  sent  the  young  man's  son  and  a  few  old  buffalo  on  to  a  certain  place. 
The  man  and  his  wife  went  to  the  village  and  told  the  people  that  in  that  certain 
place  there  would  be  a  few  old  buffalo  and  one  calf ;  that  they  must  not  hurt 
nor  kill  this  calf,  for  it  was  his  son.  It  would  run  back  to  the  big  herd  of  buffalo 
and  would  bring  more. 

Next  day  the  men  started  out  from  the  camp  to  hunt  buffalo,  and  they 
killed  all  the  buffalo  except  this  calf.  It  ran  very  fast  and  got  away  from  them. 
After  that,  the  man  told  them  that  the  buffalo  would  keep  coming,  great  herds 
of  them,  and  that  this  calf  would  be  the  leader,  a  yellow  calf.  This  calf  they 
must  not  kill,  but  they  should  kill  of  the  others  what  they  could.  The  herd 
would  follow  this  yellow  calf  always.     It  was  so. 

VI 

\  After  a  time  the  boy  came  to  the  camp  himself.  He  said  to  his  father: 
"  Father,  I  want  you  to  tell  these  people  that  I  shall  no  more  come  into  this 
camp  as  a  person.  I  am  going  to  lead  the  buffalo  east.  Now  when  the  people 
hunt,  let  the  person  who  kills  me  sacrifice  my  flesh  to  Ati'us  Tirawa;  let  him  tan 
my  hide,  and  let  him  wrap  up  in  it  an  ear  of  corn  and  other  sacred  things,  and 
each  year  when  they  start  out  on  the  hunt,  let  them  look  out  for  a  yellow  calf  so 
that  they  can  sacrifice  its  flesh  and  save  a  piece  of  its  fat  to  be  put  into  my 
bundle.  I  want  to  be  with  my  people  always.  Father,  when  my  people  are 
starving  for  meat,  let  the  principal  men,  the  chiefs,  council  together  and  let  them 
bring  the  pipe  to  me,  so  that  I  may  tell  Tirawa  that  the  people  are  hungry,  and 
he  may  send  another  yellow  calf,  which  may  lead  the  buffalo  to  my  people,  so 
that  they  may  have  plenty  of  meat."    Then  the  boy  went  back  to  the  herd. 

The  father  told  the  people  what  his  son  had  said,  and  each  man  chose  his 
fastest  horse,  because  he  wanted  to  kill  the  yellow  calf.    They  surrounded  the 


i>  I 


THE  BUFFALO  WIFE 


43 


buffalo,  and  one  man  killed  the  calf  and  tanned  the  hide.  When  the  corn  was 
gathered,  the  old  men  got  together,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  circle  was  spread  the 
calf's  hide.  They  had  an  ear  of  corn  with  a  "  feather  "  on  it.  and  they  smoked, 
and  prayed  and  talked  about  the  boy,  and  burned  the  flesh  of  the  calf  to  Atfus' 
and  afterwards  burned  sweet-grass.  Then  they  wrapped  the  corn  in  a  bladder 
and  put  it  and  a  pipe  and  some  sweet  smelling  herbs  and  some  Indian  tobacco 
m  the  hide,  and  put  the  bundle  away.  After  that  every  herd  was  led  by  a  yellow 
calf,  but  they  never  killed  this  calf,  excepting  once  a  year  for  the  sacrifice. 

By  this  time  the  man  was  powerful.  He  was  pretty  nearly  a  chief  and  a 
pnest,  but  now  he  forgot  all  about  his  buffalo  wife.  One  night  she  disappeared 
and  the  man  felt  so  badly  that  he  had  no  strength.  He  could  not  eat  nor  do 
anythmg.  and  he  just  dried  up  and  died.  But  the  sacred  bundle  was  kept  and 
handed  down  from  generation  to  generation,  and  is  to-day  in  the  possession  of 
Ta-huh-ka-ta-wi-ah,  a  member  of  the  Skidi  band  of  the  Pawnees. 


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CHAPTER  VI 

A   BLACKFOOT  SUN   AND   MOON   MYTH* 

The  Blackfoot  creator  is  known  as  Ndpi,  Ndpiu,  or  Ndpioa,  according  to  the 
dialect  spoken  by  the  different  tribes  of  the  Blackfoot  confederation.  Quite 
extended  stories  are  told  of  how  he  made  the  world,  and  of  his  adventures.  The 
one  here  told  goes  back,  apparently,  to  the  time  before  the  creation  of  the  earth 
as  we  know  it  to-day,  and  treats  of  an  incident  in  the  boyhood  of  Ndpi. 

The  story  was  related  to  me  by  an  old  Blood  chief  named  Men-es-t(f-kos, 
which  means  "  all  are  his  children,"  though  the  word  is  commonly  translated 
"  father  of  many  children."  Men-cs-td-kos  is  not  less  than  seventy  years  old,  and 
perhaps  much  older.  He  told  me  that  he  first  heard  this  tale  when  he  was  a 
small  boy,  from  his  great-grandmother,  who  at  that  time  was  a  very  old  woman 
— so  old  that  her  face  was  all  seamed  with  wrinkles,  and  that  her  eyelids  hung 
down  over  her  eyes  so  that  she  could  not  see.  It  was  told  one  night  when  a 
number  of  other  old  men  had  been  relating  stories  of  early  times,  many  of  which 
referred  to  the  doings  of  Ndpi.  The  place  where  the  tunnel  was  bored  through 
the  mountains  is  in  the  main  range  of  the  Pockies,  south  of  the  Dearborn  River. 

This  is  the  story: 

A  long  time  ago,  very  far  back,  before  any  of  these  things  had  happened,  or 
these  stories  had  been  told,  there  was  a  man  who  had  a  wife  and  two  children. 
This  man  had  no  arrows  nor  bow,  and  no  way  to  kill  food  for  his  family.  They 
lived  on  roots  and  berries. 

One  night  he  had  a  dream,  and  the  dream  told  him  that  if  he  would  go  out 
and  get  one  of  the  large  spider-webs,  such  ab  hang  in  the  brush,  and  would  hang 
it  on  the  trail  of  the  animals  where  they  passed,  he  would  be  helped,  and  would 
get  plenty  of  food.  He  did  this,  and  used  to  go  to  the  place  in  the  morning  and 
find  that  the  animals  had  stepped  in  this  web,  and  their  legs  were  tangled  in  it, 
and  they  would  make  no  effort  to  get  out.  He  would  kill  the  animals  with  his 
stone  axe,  and  would  haul  the  meat  to  camp  with  the  dog  travois. 

One  day,  when  he  got  to  the  lodge,  he  found  that  his  wife  was  perfuming 
herself  with  sweet  pine,  burned  over  the  fire,  and  he  at  once  suspected  that  she 
had  a  lover,  for  he  had  never  seen  her  do  this  before.  He  said  nothing.  The 
next  day  he  told  his  wife  that  he  must  set  his  spider-web  farther  off.    He  did  so. 


•American  Folk  Lore  Journal,  Vol.  VI.,  p.  44, 


45 


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46 


THK   INDIANS  OF  TODAY 


and  caujfht  an  animal,  and  brouj^lit  part  of  the  m»-at  back  to  camp.  The  next 
morning  he  told  his  wife  to  go  and  briii^  in  the  imat  that  he  had  left  over  in  the 
hills. 

Now  the  woman  suspected  that  her  husb.ind  was  watching  her,  so  wh"n  she 
started,  she  went  over  the  hill  out  of  siifht,  and  then  stopped  and  iooktui  back  at 
the  camp.  As  she  peered  tlirou^di  the  ^rass,  she  saw  her  husband  still  sitting  in 
the  same  place  where  he  had  been  when  she  left  him.  She  drew  back  and 
waited  for  a  time,  and  then  went  out  and  looked  a  second  time  and  saw  him  still 
sitting  there.  A  third  time  she  came  back  and  looked,  but  he  was  still  there,  so 
she  went  off  to  get  the  meat. 

The  man  at  length  got  up  and  went  to  the  crest  of  the  hill  and  saw  that  his 
wife  was  gone.  He  spoke  to  his  children,  saying  :  "  Children,  do  you  ever  go 
with  your  mother  to  gather  wood  ?  "  They  said  :  "  No,  we  never  go  there."  I  le 
asked:  "Where  does  your  mother  go  to  get  her  woodi*"  They  answered: 
"Over  there  in  that  large  patch  of  dead  timber  is  where  she  gets  it." 

The  man  went  over  to  this  big  patch  of  timber,  and  found  there  a  den  of 
rattlesnakes.  One  of  these  snakes  was  his  wife's  lover.  He  gathered  up  wood 
and  made  great  piles  of  it  and  set  them  on  fire.  Then  he  went  back  to  the  camp, 
and  said  to  the  children:  "I  have  set  fire  to  that  timber,  and  your  mother  is 
going  to  be  very  angry.  She  will  try  to  kill  us.  I  will  give  you  three  things,  and 
you  must  run  away.  For  myself,  1  will  wait  here  for  her."  He  gave  the 
children  a  stick,  a  stone,  and  a  bunch  of  moss,  and  said:  "  If  your  mother  runs 
after  you,  and  you  see  that  she  is  coming  up  to  you,  throw  this  stick  behind  you 
on  your  trail;  and  if  she  comes  up  with  you  again,  throw  the  stone  back.  If  that 
does  not  check  her  coming  on,  wet  this  moss,  anti  wring  out  the  water  on  your 
back  trail.  If  you  do  as  I  tell  you,  your  mother  will  not  kill  you  nor  me, '  The 
children  started  off,  as  he  had  told  them  to.  Then  he  went  out  into  the  brush 
and  got  another  spider-web  and  hung  it  over  the  door  of  the  lodge. 

When  the  woman,  a  long  way  off,  looked  back  and  saw  that  her  timber 
patch  was  all  on  fire  she  felt  very  sorry,  and  she  ran  back  as  hard  as  she  could 
toward  the  lodge,  angry,  and  feeling  that  she  must  do  something.  When  she 
came  to  the  lodge,  she  stooped  to  go  in  at  the  door,  but  got  caught  in  the 
cobweb.  She  had  one  foot  in  the  lodge,  but  the  man  was  standing  there  ready, 
and  he  cut  it  off  with  his  stone  a.xe.  She  still  struggled  to  get  in,  and  at  last  put 
her  head  in,  and  he  cut  this  off.  When  he  had  done  this,  the  man  ran  out  of  the 
lodge  and  down  the  creek.  His  children  had  gone  south.  When  the  man  ran 
down  the  creek,  the  woman's  body  followed  him,  while  the  head  started  after  the 
children,  rolling  along  the  ground. 

As  they  ran  away,  the  children  kept  looking  behind  them  to  see  whether 
their  mother  was  following,  but  they  did  not  see  her  coming  until  the  head  was 


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A  BLACKFOOT  SUN   AND  MOON   MYTH 


47 


close  to  them.  The  older  of  the  two,  when  he  saw  it,  said:  "Why,  here  is 
mother's  head  coming  right  after  us!"  The  head  called  out  and  said:  "Yes, 
children,  but  there  is  no  life  for  you."  The  boy  quickly  threw  his  stick  behind 
him,  as  he  had  been  told  to  do,  and  back  from  where  the  stick  struck  the  gtound 
it  was  all  dense  forest. 

The  children  ran  on,  but  soon  they  again  saw  behind  them  the  head  coming. 
The  younger  said:  "  Brother,  our  father  said  to  throw  the  stone  behind  us  if  our 
mother  was  catching  up.  Throw  it."  The  elder  brother  threw  the  stone,  and 
when  it  struck  the  ground  it  made  a  high  mountain  from  ocean  to  ocean — fron 
the  north  waters  to  the  south  waters.  The  woman  could  see  no  way  to  pass  this 
wall,  so  she  rolled  along  it  till  she  came  to  a  big  water.  Then  the  head  turned 
and  rolled  back  in  the  other  direction  until  it  came  to  another  big  water. 

There  was  no  way  to  pass  over  this  mountain.  As  she  was  rolling  along, 
presently  she  came  to  two  rams  feeding,  and  she  said  to  them:  "  Open  a  passage 
for  me  through  this  mountain,  so  that  I  can  overtake  my  children.  They  have 
passed  over  it,  and  I  want  to  overtake  them.  If  you  will  open  a  passage  for  me, 
I  will  marry  the  chief  of  the  sheep."  The  rams  took  this  word  to  the  chief  of 
the  sheep,  and  he  said:  "  Yes,  butt  a  passage  through  the  mountains  for  her." 
The  sheep  gathered  and  the  rams  began  to  butt  the  mountains.  They  knocked 
down  the  rocks  and  peaks  and  cliffs  and  opened  ravines,  but  it  took  a  long  time 
to  butt  a  passage  through  the  mountains.  They  butted,  and  butted,  and  butted 
till  their  horns  wer  all  worn  down,  but  the  pass  was  not  yet  open.  All  this  time 
the  head  was  rolling  around,  very  impatient,  and  at  last  it  came  to  an  ant-hill. 
It  said  to  the  ants:  "  Here,  if  you  will  finish  the  passage  through  those  moun- 
tains, I  will  marry  the  chief  ant."  The  chief  of  the  ants  called  out  all  his  people, 
and  they  went  to  work  boring  in  the  mountains.  They  worked  until  they  had 
bored  a  passage  through  the  mountains.  This  tunnel  is  still  to  be  seen,  and 
tlie  rocks  about  it  all  bored  and  honeycombed  by  the  ants.  When  they  had 
finished  the  passage,  the  head  rolled  through  and  went  rolling  down  the  moun- 
tain on  the  other  side. 

The  children  were  still  running,  and  had  now  gone  a  long  way,  but  after  a 
long  travel  they  could  see  the  head  rolling  behind  them.  The  younger  one  said 
to  the  older,  "  Brother,  you  must  wet  that  moss; "  and  as  they  were  running 
along  they  soaked  it,  and  it  was  ready.  When  they  saw  that  the  head  was 
catching  up,  they  wrung  out  the  bunch  of  moss  on  their  trail  behind  them,  and  at 
once  found  that  they  were  in  a  different  land,  and  that  behind  them  was  a  big 
water  surrounding  the  country  which  they  had  just  left.  That  is  why  this 
country  is  surrounded  by  water.  The  head  rolled  into  this  big  water  and  was 
drowned. 

When  the  children  saw  that  the  head  was  drowned,  they  gathered  wood  and 


jnJSi«M:ii(...,^ : .  , 


48 


THE  INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


made  a  large  raft,  biniling  the  sticks  together  with  willow  bark,  and  at  a  place 
west  of  here,  where  the  water  is  narrowest,  they  tried  to  sail  back  to  the  land 
that  they  had  left.  The  wind  was  blowing  from  the  west,  and  helped  them,  and 
they  used  sticks  for  paddles,  and  at  last  they  reached  the  land. 

When  they  had  landed  they  traveled  east  through  countries  occupied  by 
many  different  tribes  of  Indians,  to  get  back  to  the  land  that  they  had  left,  and 
when  they  reached  this  country,  they  found  it  occupied  by  a  different  people,  the 
Snakes  and  the  Crows.  So  the  youngest  boy  said:  "  Let  us  separate.  Here  we 
are  in  a  strange  country  and  among  a  different  people.  You  will  follow  the  foot 
of  the  mountains  and  go  north,  and  I  will  follow  the  mountains  south,  and  see 
what  I  can  discover."     So  they  separated,  one  going  north  and  the  other  south. 

One  of  these  boys  was  very  shrewd  and  the  other  very  simple.  The  simple 
one  went  north  to  discover  what  he  could,  and  to  make  people.  The  smart  boy 
is  the  one  who  made  the  white  people  in  the  south,  and  taught  them  how  to 
make  iron  and  many  other  things.  This  is  why  the  whites  are  so  smart.  The 
simple  boy  who  went  north  made  the  Blackfeet.  Being  ignorant,  he  could  not 
teach  them  anything.  He  was  known  across  the  mountains  as  Left  Hand,  and 
in  later  years  by  the  Blackfeet  as  Old  Man  {Ndpi).  The  woman's  body  chased 
the  father  down  the  stream,  and  is  still  following  him.  The  body  of  the  woman 
is  the  Moon,  p.nd  the  father  is  the  Sun.  If  she  can  catch  him  she  will  kill  him, 
and  it  will  be  always  night.  If  she  does  not  catch  him,  it  will  be  day  and  night 
as  now. 


CHir.F  GRKONIMO 

CMIKKAIHA    ArACHK 


CHAPTER  VII 


FORMER    DISTRIBUTION   OF  THE    INDIANS 


The  Indians  who  inhabited  America  at  the  discovery  were  not  all  alike. 
They  were  all  Indians— all  belonged  to  what  Dr.  Brinton  has  happily  termed 
the  American  Race — but  they  did  not  all  live  in  the  same  way  or  speak  the 
same  language  or  hold  the  same  beliefs.  There  were  many  different  tribes, 
scattered  over  a  vast  region  from  the  arctic  to  the  ti  jpics,  and  from  ocean  to 
ocean,  all  occupied  in  struggling  with  nature  and  endeavoring  in  a  thousand 
different  ways  to  win  subsistence  from  her.  While  the  Indians  were  all  of  one 
race,  some  tribes  were  obviously  more  nearly  alike  than  others.  This  similarity 
might  be  shown  in  various  ways.  Two  groups  might  closely  resemble  one 
another  in  their  modes  of  life,  yet  there  might  be  no  likeness  in  their  languages 
nor  in  their  views  about  the  operations  of  nature  and  life,  death  and  religion. 
Another  two  might  speak  languages  that  were  closely  allied,  yet,  owing  to  their 
surroundings,  lead  very  different  lives. 

While  we  may  imagine  that  originally  all  related  people  lived  in  the  same 
or  neighboring  territories,  nevertheless,  conditions  might  frequently  arise  which 
would  cause  groups  to  wander  away  and  become  permanently  separated  from 
their  kinsfolk.  Scarcity  of  food,  quarrels  within  the  tribe  or  among  its  divisions, 
the  attacks  of  more  powerful  enemies,  even  the  restlessness  of  men  who  were 
dissatisfied  with  their  lot  in  life,  might  lead  to  such  movements,  whether  mere 
temporary  separations  or  extended  migrations.  That  such  separations  were 
constantly  taking  place,  we  know  from  Indian  tradition,  for  almost  every  tribe 
has  bome  story  which  tells  of  its  former  occupancy  of  another  and  distant  land, 
and  speaks  of  other  tribes — its  relations — from  which  it  parted  long  ago;  we 
know  it  also  from  the  fact  that  tribes  now  separated  by  great  distances  hold 
similar  beliefs  and  speak  similar  languages,  and  finally  we  know  it  from  the 
history  of  such  migrations  which  have  taken  place  since  our  forefathers  occupied 
the  land.  And  indeed  the  white  man  did  much  to  promote  such  migrations, 
for  his  settlement  more  than  anything  else  crowded  the  Indian  from  his  ancestral 
home  and  forced  him  to  seek  some  spot  which  the  newcomers  had  not  invaded. 
The  tribe  thus  driven  out  would,  perhaps,  encroach  on  the  territory  of  some 
other  tribe,  and  if  sufficiently  powerful,  push  it  beyond  its  own  home  against 
some  neighboring  tribe,  and  so  the  process  of  moving  along  was  continued. 

Ethnologists  long  ago  determined  that  the  surest  and  most  natural  classifi- 
cation of  the  different  tribes  of  Indians  is  one  founded  on  the  language  which 

49 


50 


THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


each  speaks.  So  all  the  tribes  speaking;;  the  same  language  or  its  dialects  are 
said  to  constitute  a  linguistic  family,  or  language  stock.  Often  these  several 
languages,  although  related,  may  be  so  different  that  a  tribe  speaking  one 
dialect  may  be  unable  to  understand  other  dialects  of  the  same  language,  just  as 
an  Englishman  may  not  understand  French  or  German,  which  are  languages 
closely  related  to  his  own. 

In  i8qi,  Major  J.  W.  Powell  published  in  the  Seventh  Annual  Report  of  the 
Bureau  of  Ethnology,  a  Classitication  of  the  Indian  Linguistic  Families  of 
America,  north  of  Mexico,  which  has  found  general  acceptance  among  students 
of  ethnology.  His  list  included  fifty-eight  language  stocks,  and  has  since  been 
but  slightly  modified,  so  that  the  linguistic  families  of  North  America  now 
number  fifty-nine  and  represent  over  eight  hundred  tribes.  These  families  with 
rough  suggestions  of  the  territory  occupied  by  each  are  given  in  alphabetical 
order  in  the  succeeding  pages. 

Several  of  these  families  are  actually  extinct,  and  others  are  practically  so, 
while  almost  two-thirds  of  the  remainder  are  confined  to  the  Pacific  slope  and  often 
occupy  territories  so  small  and  are  represented  by  tribes  so  unimportant  as  to 
be  almost  unknown,  except  locally.  Such  families  have  little  interest  for  the 
general  reader,  and  are  mentioned  only  to  complete  the  list.  In  the  case  of 
moie  important  and  better  known  families,  attention  is  sometimes  called  to 
points  which  bear  on  problems  which  are  often  discussed. 

ALGONQUIAN  FAMILY 

No  other  North  American  linguistic  stock  had  so  wide  a  distribution  as  the 
Algonquian.  Its  tribes  occupied  the  greater  part  of  the  North  Atlantic  coast  as 
far  south  as  Cape  Hatteras  and  north  to  the  St.  Lawrence  River,  and  inhabited 
the  whole  of  Labrador,  except  the  strip  on  the  sea-coast  held  by  the  Eskimo ; 
thence  their  territory  extended  west  throughout  most  of  Canada,  nearly  to  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  and  they  held  a  considerable  area  south  of  the  Great  Lakes, 
including  West  Virginia,  parts  of  Pennsylvania,  OhivT  and  Michigan,  all  of 
Kentucky,  Indiana  and  Illinois.  This  is  believed  to  include  the  most  of  the 
Algonquian  territory  at  the  time  of  the  discovery  of  Amenca;  later  the 
westernmost  Algonquian  tribes,  the  Blackfeet,  Cheyenne  and  Arapaho,  migrated 
to  and  even  crossed  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

The  tribes  of  this  family  are  by  far  the  best  known  of  all  American  Indians; 
and  they  have  left  memorials  of  their  former  occupancy  of  the  land  in  the 
names  of  States,  counties,  towns  and  villages  in  the  most  thickly  settled  parts  of 
America.  It  was  with  Algonquians  that  the  Pilgrim  F"athers  fought  when 
they  first  landed ;  it  was  Algonquians  that  the  first  settlers  of  Virginia  drove 
back  into  the  mountains;  it  was  with  Algonquians  that  William  Penn  did  his 


FOKMKR   DISTRIHUTION   OF  THE   INDIANS 


5' 


ps; 

Ithe 

of 

ken 

[ve 

Ills 


peaceful  tradinjj,  and  to-day  in  the  minds  of  Americans  the  Algonquians  stand 
as  the  type  of  the  Indian. 

Scattered  all  over  the  vast  territory  which  they  occupied,  were  many  dif- 
ferent tribes,  some  of  them  speaking  languages  that  were  closely  related  and 
easily  understood  by  their  neighbors,  others,  whose  separation  from  the 
main  stock  had  been  longer,  speaking  tongues  that  were  not  understood.  Many 
of  the  tribes  had  relations  with  each  other  which  were  friendly;  others  were 
often  at  war  with  those  of  their  own  blood. 

The  habits  of  the  different  tribes  varied  greatly,  being  of  course  modified 
by  the  conditions  of  their  several  environments.  All  who  lived  in  a  territory 
where  agriculture  could  be  practiced  did  more  or  less  farming,  cultivating  corn, 
the  squash  and  tobacco.  Usually  they  inhabited  permanent  villages;  but,  except 
during  seedtime  and  harvest,  they  wandered  to  some  extent  for  the  purpose  of 
hunting  and  of  gathering  the  wild  fruits,  such  as  berries,  nuts  and  roots,  on 
which  in  part  they  subsisted.  There  is  a  record  of  between  30  and  40  different 
Algonquian  languages  and  a  greater  number  of  tribes,  many  of  which  have  be- 
come extinct,  yet  even  so  there  exist  to-day  in  North  America  not  far  from 
100,000  people  of  this  race.    Of  these  the  greater  part  are  in  Canada. 

ATHAPASCAN  FAMILY 

The  Athapascan  family  also  is  remarkable  for  the  extent  of  territory  which 
it  covers.  In  northern  North  America  it  is  found  from  Hudson's  Bay  west  to 
the  F'acific  Ocean,  and  it  extends  from  the  mouth  of  the  Mackenzie  River  on 
the  Arctic  Ocean  interruptedly  south  into  Mexico.  Its  latitudinal  range,  there- 
fore, is  greater  than  that  of  any  other  American  family. 

These  people  call  themselves Tinne,  Di'nne  or  Dene,  terms  meaning  "people." 
The  word  Athabasca,  taken  from  the  lake  of  that  name,  is  said  to  signify 
"place  of  hay,"  while  Chippewyan,  a  term  which  has  also  been  applied  to  this 
family  from  one  of  its  tribes,  means  "pointed  coats." 

The  northernmost  tribe  of  the  Athapascans  live  about  the  mouth  of  the 
Mackenzie  River,  occupying  the  same  territory  with  the  Eskimo,  and  leading 
lives  somewhat  similar  to  them.  On  the  whole,  however,  the  Athapascans  are 
inland  people,  the  northern  group  being  found  throughout  northern  British 
America,  west  of  Hudson's  Bay,  and  Alaska,  except  for  a  narrow  strip  of 
sea-coast,  and  south  nearly  to  the  Saskatchewan  River.  In  old  times,  we  are 
told  by  traditions  of  some  western  Algonquians,  the  Beaver  River  was  the 
southern  limit  of  the  Athapascans  in  the  northern  interior.  In  Washington, 
Oregon  and  California,  living  on  the  sea-coast  and  just  back  from  it,  are  many 
small  tribes  of  Athapascan  stock,  most  of  them,  perhaps,  immigrants*  from  the 
north   in  comparatively  modern  times.     The  southernmost    peoples  of    this 


fwrTirrttajB 


52 


THK   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAV 


family  arc  the  Navajo  and  Apache  of  New  Mexico,  Arizona  and  Old  Mexico. 
It  is  perhaps  doubtful  whether  they  have  occupied  that  territory  for  very  many 
hundred  years. 

The  extended  north  and  south  range  of  this  family  has  caused  it  to  develop 
in  many  different  directions,  and  to  assume  a  great  variety  of  habits  of  life.  Its 
tribes  are  peojile  of  j^reat  energy  and  strong  initiative;  and  when  brought  in 
contact  with  other  less  forceful  races,  they  (juickly  gain  the  mastery,  and  direct 
them  according  to  their  will.  Descent  among  the  Athapascans  is  usually  in  the 
female  line,  the  son  and  wife  not  considering  the  father  and  hu.sband  any 
relation  to  them. 

In  Alaska,  and  probably  in  British  America  as  well,  the  last  few  years  have 
witnessed  a  great  decrease  in  numbers  of  people  of  this  stock.  I  was  recently 
informed  by  a  man  who  had  spent  two  years  on  Copper  River,  that  when  he 
went  there,  there  were  not  far  from  two  hundred  Indians  living  along  the  river, 
and  that  when  he  Cime  out,  this  number  had  been  reduced,  as  nearly  as  he  could 
learn,  to  thirty-five. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Navajoes  of  the  Southwest  are  said  to  be  increasing 
in  number.  Th;;y  possess  great  flocks  and  herds,  ship  each  year  large  quantities 
of  wool  of  their  own  shearing,  raise  considerable  crops  by  means  of  irrigation, 
and  finally  are  expert  blanket  weavers  and  silversmiths. 

There  are  twenty-five  or  thirty  distinct  tribes  of  Athapascans,  many  of  whom 
speak  dialects  that  are  not  intelligible  to  other  tribes  of  their  family. 


I. 


,<i 
( 


ATTACAPAN  FAMILY 

The  home  of  the  Attacapan  stock  was  on  the  Gulf  coast  of  Louisiana.  These 
people  were  called  by  their  neighbors  cannibals,  the  name  of  the  tribe  meaning, 
in  Chocta,  man-eater.  Very  little  is  known  of  them,  though  we  have  a 
considerable  vocabulary  of  their  language,  which  is  treated  as  an  independent 
one,  although  it  is  suspected  that  it  may  have  relationships  with  that  of  the  Chiti- 
machan,  whose  small  territory  touched  that  of  the  Attacapan. 

BEOTHUKAN  FAMILY 

When  Newfoundland  was  discovered,  it  was  inhabited  by  a  tribe  or  race  of 
Indians  known  as  Beothuks,  now  long  extinct,  and  of  whom  little  is  known. 
They  are  only  vaguely  mentioned  by  the  earliest  travelers.  Early  in  the 
eighteenth  century  Newfoundland  began  to  be  colonized  by  Algonquian  tribes 
from  the  mainland,  who  fought  with  and  ultimately  drove  back  the  Beothuks, 
who  were  also  persecuted  by  the  French.  We  hear  of  this  family  last  in  1827, 
after  which  it  disappeared. 


In 

It 


Pi 

I'! 


I 


of 
vn. 


i 


Cllli:!'  JOSH 

hAN    IAR1.0S    APACHE 


rOKMI'U    DISTRIBUTION   OF  THE   INDIANS 


53 


The  Bcothuks  are  said  to  have  been  unusually  light  in  color,  although  they 
were  commonly  called  Red  Indians,  no  doubt  from  the  fact  that  they  painted 
their  faces  and  perhaps  their  bodies  red. 

In  certain  of  their  habits  they  seem  to  have  differed  from  the  tribes  of  the 
mainland,  their  canoes  and  houses  being  reported  distinctly  different  from 
anything  that  we  know.  They  did  not  possess  dogs.  They  were  skillful  in  carv- 
ing and  tanning. 

Their  language  shows  some  wirds  of  Algonquian  origin  and  others 
reSv'>>nbling  the  Eskimo,  but,  on  the  whole,  it  stands  alone. 

CADDOAN    FAMILY 


This  was  an  important  family,  occupying  portions  of  the  western  plains, 
from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  interruptedly  nearly  to  the  northern  boundary  line  of 
the  United  States.  The  northernmost  of  its  tribes  is  the  Arikara,  now  living 
on  the  Missouri  River,  about  Fort  Berthold,  but  formerly  at  different  points 
further  down  that  stream,  perhaps  as  far  south  as  the  Platte.  Next,  south  of 
these,  came  the  four  tribes  commonly  known  as  Pawnee,  which  long  resided 
between  the  Loup  Fork  of  the  Platte  on  the  north,  and  the  Smoky  Hill  River,  in 
Kansas,  on  the  south,  controlling  a  large  extent  of  territory.  Still  farther  south, 
in  the  Indian  Territory  and  northern  Texas,  were  the  Wichita,  and  again  to 
the  southward,  the  Caddo,  Kichai,  Hueco  and  Tawakoni  tr'  -^s.  The  traditions 
of  the  Pawnees,  told  with  some  detail,  state  that  they  came  from  the  South- 
west, probably  from  a  point  on  the  Gulf  of  California. 

The  Pawnees  were  more  distinctly  agricultural  than  any  of  the  tribes  of  the 
northern  plains.  They  have  always  raised  crops  on  fields  which  they  have 
cultivated  near  their  villages.  The  villages  consisted  of  a  number  of  dome- 
shaped  houses,  built  of  poles  and  sod  and  dirt,  each  one  of  which  might  be  large 
enough  to  hold  a  dozen  or  twenty  families.  Between  the  time  of  planting  in  the 
spring  and  of  harvesting  in  the  fall,  most  of  the  able-bodied  people  of  the 
different  villages  left  their  homes  to  travel  to  the  buffalo  ground,  where  game 
enough  was  killed  to  furnish  meat,  robes  and  lodge-skins  for  the  requirements  of 
the  next  six  months.  In  the  winter,  when  the  robes  were  at  their  best,  another 
hunting  excursion  was  made. 

Within  the  past  few  years  the  Pawnees  have  been  rapidly  on  the  decline. 
The  main  tribe,  which  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago  numbered  about  three 
thousand,  is  now  reduced  to  about  seven  hundred.  The  Arikara  and  Wichita 
are  still  fewer  in  number,  while  of  the  Kichai  and  Tawakoni,  less  than  one 
hundred  each  remain.  Among  the  tribes  of  the  Pawnee  stock,  there  survived 
until  recently  many  customs  found  among  the  Aztecs  when  the  Spaniards  first 


54 


THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


met  them.  Like  many  other  tribes,  they  venerate  the  earth.  Corn  is  sacred  to 
them  ;  they  call  it  the  Mother,  and  have  many  ceremonies  connected  with  it. 
Less  than  thirty  years  ago  the  I'awnee  women  still  cultivated  their  corn  with 
bone  hoes,  made  from  the  shoulder  blade  of  the  buffalo,  fastened  to  the  end  of  a 
stick.  They  ^rn  atly  reverence  the  evening  star,  which  they  believ  to  have  an 
influence  on  their  crops,  ami  some  of  the  tribes — and  in  ancient  times,  perhaps, 
ai!  cf  them  -offered  each  year  a  human  being  as  a  sacrifice,  to  insure  the 
success  of  the  crop.  The  ceremony  connected  with  this  sacrifice  was  an 
elaborate  one,  and  the  act  was  one  of  worship — as  much  so  as  was  the  l)urnt- 
offering  to  Jehovah  by  the  Jews. 

Besides  those  mentioned,  there  were  a  number  of  other  tribes  of  Caddoan 
stock,  all  of  which  have  become  extinct. 

CHIMMESYAN    FAMILY 

The  tribes  of  this  family  occupied  the  coast  and  river  region  of  portions  of 
nor''  ern  British  Columbia  and  southern  Alaska. 

It  is  to  this  stock  that  the  Metlakahtla  Indians  belong.  This  tribe — now 
about  one  thousand  in  number — was  visited  and  first  instructed  more  than  forty 
years  ago  by  Mr.  Wm.  Duncan,  and  wholly  through  his  efforts  has  become 
entirely  civilized.  In  1887  they  were  driven  from  Canada  by  what  may  be  fairly 
called  religious  persecution,  and  removed  to  Annette  Island,  in  Alaska,  where 
they  founded  a  new  settlement,  called  New  Metlakahtla.  Here  there  is  a  large 
and  prosperous  village — with  schoolhouses  and  a  very  handsome  church — 
occupied  by  Indians  who  are  civilized  and  self-sustaining.  Tlvy  have  a  salmon 
cannery  here  which  is  the  main  support  of  the  settlement.  orts  have  been 

made  recently,  and  are  still  continued,  to  take  this  island  from  ilie  Metlakahtlas, 
although  when  the  Government  assigned  it  to  them,  they  were  promised  that  it 
should  be  theirs  as  long  as  they  chose  to  occupy  it. 

There  are  eight  or  nine  tribes  of  this  family,  numbering  in  all  less  than  five 
thousand  people. 

CHINOOKAN    FAMILY 

The  tribes  embraced  within  this  family  live  along  the  Columbia  River  from 
its  mouth  to  tlu-.  Dalles,  and  their  villages  also  extend  on  the  Pacific  coast,  north 
to  Shoal  Water  Bay  and  south  to  Tillamuk  Head.  There  are  about  a  do.'en 
tribes.    Their  name  was  given  to  the  trade  jargon  of  the  northwest  coast. 

CHITIMACHAN   FAMILY 

The  home  of  this  family,  which,  so  far  as  known,  consisted  of  only  a  single 
tribe,  was  in  Louisiana.     They  were  sun  worshipers,  and  are  said  to  have  been 


■  —  ifWiiliWIilll 


of 


kgle 
leen 


NASl'TEAS 

WICHITA 


FORMER  DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  INDIANS 


55 


monogamous.  The  tribe  is  now  almost  extinct,  there  being  less  than  fifty 
individuals,  still  living  in  Louisiana.  The  tribal  organization  was  abandoned 
in  1879. 

COPEHAN   FAMILY 

This  family  was  made  up  of  a  number  of  tribes,  living  in  California  and 
nowhere  touching  the  sea-coast.  They  occupied  a  narrow  block  of  territory 
extending  from  the  region  of  the  Sastean  family  on  the  north,  south  nearly  to 
San  Francisco  Bay.  They  thus  separated  the  many  small  families  which  lived  on 
the  sea-shore,  from  others  living  in  the  mountains,  such  as  the  Pujunan,  Yanan 
and  Palaihnihan. 

ESKIMOAN   FAMILY 

The  Eskimo  are  the  most  northern  people  of  North  America  and  are  also 
one  of  the  most  widely  extended,  for  they  live  along  the  coast  from  eastern 
Greenland  to  the  Bering  Sea  and  the  extremity  of  the  Aleutian  Islands,  with 
some  villages  in  Siberia.  At  the  present  day  they  are  almost  exclusively  a  sea- 
coast  people,  for  although  they  occasionally  penetrate  the  interior  for  the  purpose 
of  hunting  caribou,  musk-ox,  and  other  large  animals,  they  do  not  go  long  dis- 
tances from  the  coast.  The  coast  people  of  the  Alaskan  Peninsula,  as  far  south 
as  Prince  William  Sound,  and  of  the  Aleutian  Islands,  commonly  known  as 
Aleuts,  belong  to  this  family,  although  the  language  which  they  speak  is  not 
to-day  understood  by  the  Eskimo. 

The  name  Eskimo  is  derived  from  an  Algonquian  term,  and  means, "  he  eats 
raw  flesh."  They  call  themselves  Innuit,  meaning  people,  a  term  used  to  desig- 
nate themselves  by  many  of  our  American  tribes. 

Although  the  Eskimo  are  at  present  dwellers  in  the  Arctic  and  along  the 
sea-shore,  they  have  not  always  been  so.  Their  traditions  speak  of  a  time  when 
they  lived  far  to  the  south,  and  tell  the  story  of  their  migration,  and  this  is  con- 
firmed by  the  investigations  of  those  who  have  studied  them.  There  is  other 
evidence  that  the  Eskimo  were  once  found  as  far  south  as  the  valleys  of  the 
Ohio  and  Delaware  Rivers.  Those  Eskimo  now  found  in  Siberia  are  emigrants 
from  American  shores,  and  at  present  there  is  constant  intercourse  between  the 
Eskimo  of  Asia  and  those  of  Alaska,  and  the  Asiatic  villagers  frequently  cross 
to  Alaska  for  the  purpose  of  trading  with  the  whalers. 

Of  the  number  of  the  Eskimo,  not  very  much  is  certainly  known  ;  the  best 
estimates  ten  years  ago  were  about  20,000  for  the  inhabitants  of  Alaska,  ii,oco 
for  those  of  Baffin  Land,  2,000  for  those  of  Labrador  and  10,000  for  those  of 
Greenland.  So  far  as  may  be  judged  from  recent  reports  as  to  the  condition  of 
the  Alaska  Innuit,  their  numbers  are  decreasing  rapidly.     Liquor  is  commonly 


56 


THE  INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


traded  to  them  by  the  whalers,  and  their  intercourse  with  the  white  people 
seems  to  be  rapidly  tending  toward  their  destruction. 

They  are  a  contented,  cheerful  people,  remarkable  for  the  ingenuity  with 
which  they  have  adapted  themselves  to  the  hard  conditions  surrounding  them, 
and  notable  for  their  imagination  and  their  extraordinary  dexterity  in  fashioning 
tools,  and  in  carving.  They  have  an  inexhaustible  fund  of  songs,  stories  and 
traditions. 


IROQUOIAN   FAP4ILY 

The  Iroquois,  famous  as  being  the  founders  of  the  League  of  the  Six 
Nations,  as  well  as  for  their  prowess  as  warriors,  occupied  considerable  ter- 
ritories in  the  eastern  United  States  and  Canada,  and  were  early  known  to  the 
whites.  Their  country  lay  on  both  sides  of  the  St.  Lawrence  River,  from 
Quebec  up  that  stream,  and  on  both  sides  of  Lake  Ontario  and  Lake  Erie,  and, 
stretching  southward  through  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  terminated  at  the 
head  of  Chesapeake  Bay.  Another  large  section  of  the  family,  the  Cherokee, 
occupied  portions  of  Virginia,  Tei.r.cssee,  North  and  South  Carolina,  Georgia 
and  Alabama,  and  there  were  two  isolated  settlements  in  southeast  Virginia  and 
northeast  North  Carolina. 

In  early  times  the  Iroquois  were  noted  for  their  fierceness  in  war.  They 
made  long  journeys  from  their  northern  home,  down  to  the  southern  sea-coast, 
where  they  raided  the  tribes  of  Algonquian  and  Siouan  stock,  to  whom  their 
name  was  terriblf  It  is  probable  indeed  that  this  continuous  warfare  was  one 
of  the  chief  reason^^  for  the  westward  migration  of  the  Siouan  tribes  which  Mr. 
Mooney  has  announced  to  us.  The  Iroquois  were  not  only  hardy  warriors,  but 
were  also  very  superior  physically,  and  this  superiority  has  continued  to  the 
present  time.  Dr.  Brinton  has  told  us  that  "the  five  companies  (500  men) 
recruited  from  the  Iroquois  of  New  York  and  Canada  during  our  Civil  War, 
stood  first  on  the  list  among  all  the  recruits  of  our  army  for  height,  vigor,  and 
corporeal  symmetry." 

The  League  of  the  Iroquois  is  well  known  and  has  been  fully  described  by  Mr. 
Hale  and  Dr.  Brinton.  The  five  original  nations  were  the  Onandaga,  Mohawk, 
Oneida,  Seneca  and  Cayuga,  to  which  were  added  later  the  Tuscarora  and 
portions  of  the  Neutral  Nation,  making  the  Six  Nations  which  have  become 
historic.  The  purpose  of  this  league,  which  is  said  to  have  been  devised  by  the 
Onandaga  chief,  Hiawatha,  about  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  was  to 
abolish  war  altogether. 

Notwithstanding  their  extended  war  journeys,  the  Iroquois  were  a  sedentary 
people,  living  in  permanent  villages,  whose  houses  were  built  of  logs,  and  which 


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FORMER   DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE   INDIANS 


57 


were  fortified  with  palisades.  They  cultivated  great  fields  of  corn,  beans  and 
tobacco,  raising  each  year  more  than  they  could  consume. 

The  ritual  of  their  religion  and  their  legends  and  myths  were  highly 
developed  and  were  handed  down  with  most  scrupulous  care  from  generation  to 
generation.  As  aids  to  the  memory  in  regard  to  all  these  matters,  they  had 
devised  belts  and  strings  of  wampum  in  which  the  arrangement  and  design  of 
the  beads  had  relation  to  the  course  of  the  story  or  the  chant. 

It  is  interesting  to  note,  as  an  example  of  how  long  a  name  may  live  in  the 
popular  mind  after  it  has  lost  its  original  meaning,  that  to-day  in  North  Carolina 
and  Virginia  a  certain  sort  of  bear  which  is  supposed  to  be  particularly  ferocious 
is  called  Sinnaker,  which  is  the  confused  survival  there  of  the  terrible  name 
Seneca,  and  has  come  down,  but  little  changed  in  form,  with  its  original  meaning 
all  lost,  but  still  retaining  the  idea  of  ferocity,  from  the  time  when  the  Seneca 
and  their  fierce  relatives  of  the  Six  Nations  used  to  raid  the  more  peaceful 
Indiar.  tribes,  which  surrounded  the  struggling  white  settlers  on  the  Atlantic 
coast. 

KARANKAWAN  FAMILY 

These  people  had  their  home  on  the  coast  of  Texas,  between  the  mouths  of 
the  Colorado  and  Nueces  Rivers.  Sibley,  writing  in  the  early  part  of  this 
century,  states  that  they  spoke  the  Attacapan  language.  Not  very  much  is 
knowii  of  the  tongue  spoken  by  the  Karankawas,  and  as  the  tribe  is  practically 
extinct,  there  is  little  prospect  of  any  knowledge  on  this  subject.  The  Spanish 
called  them  cannibals  and  gave  them  a  very  bad  name,  but  in  modern  times 
they  have  appeared  a  quiet  people. 

KIOWAN  FAMILY 

The  Kiowan  family  is  represented  by  a  single  tribe,  the  Kiowa,  which  at  the 
time  when  the  white  men  first  reached  the  Great  Plains,  roamed  about  the  head 
waters  of  the  Platte  River.  Where  they  came  from  is  not  known,  but  Cheyenne 
tradition  tells  us  that  less  than  250  years  ago,  when  they  had  crossed  the  Mis- 
souri River  and  reached  the  plains  north  of  the  Black  Hills,  they  found  the 
Kiowas  and  Comanches  occupying  the  country  between  those  mountains  and 
the  Yellowstone  River. 

Mr.  Mooney  has  traced  the  Kiowas  as  far  to  the  northwest  as  the  Three 
Forks  of  the  Missouri. 

In  more  modern  times,  the  Kiowas  were  buffalo  hunters  and  brave  warriors, 
but  by  the  Medicine  Lodge  Treaty  in  1867,  they  gave  up  their  free  life  and  agreed 
to  be  assigned  to  their  present  reservation  in  the  Indian  Territory,  which  they 
have  since  occupied  jointly  with  the  Comanches. 


58 


THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


i\  . 


It 


ill 


Although  the  Kiowas  are  classed  as  an  independent  stock,  their  language 
nevertheless  presents  many  points  of  likeness  to  the  Shoshonean  languages,  yet 
this  similarity  does  not  appear  sufficient  to  justify  the  classing  the  Kiowas  with 
the  Shoshonis. 

KITUNAHAN  FAMILY 

Two  or  three  closely  related  tribes  living  on  the  main  range  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  some  to  the  north  and  some  to  the  south  of  the  boundary  line 
between  the  Lnited  States  and  Canada,  are  the  only  representatives  of  this 
family.  They  are  known  to  the  whites  as  Kutenai.  They  are  for  the  most  part 
mountain  Indians  and  have  always  supported  themselves  by  hunting,  fishing,  and 
gathering  roots,  although  formerly  they  regularly  visited  the  plains  to  hunt 
buffalo.    There  are  not  many  of  them  lefl  to-day. 

KOLUSCHAN    FAMILY 

A  number  of  tribes  living  on  the  northwest  seacoast  are  classed  together  as 
Tlinkit.  They  inhabit  the  coast  of  Alaska  and  its  islands,  and  draw  their 
subsistence  largely  from  the  sea.  They  are  a  maritime  people,  tall  and  well 
built,  and  the  men  have  considerable  hair  on  the  face.  Usually  they  live  in 
permanent  houses,  constructed  of  heavy  planks,  split  from  the  trunks  of  the 
white  cedar  trees.  Their  canoes,  hollowed  out  from  the  trunks  of  trees,  are  fine 
in  model,  and  are  often  artistically  carved  and  painted.  The  fronts  of  their 
houses  and  many  of  their  utensils  are  also  elaborately  carved  and  painted,  and 
before  the  houses  are  often  erected  sculptured  totem  poles,  which  represent  the 
ancestry  of  the  house-owner,  and  also  often  contain  the  ashes  of  the  dead. 
Colossal  wooden  figures  of  birds  and  animals  are  erected  over  the  graves  of 
the  medicine  men,  who  are  buried,  not  burned.  The  Tlinkit  made  effective 
weapons  and  utensils  of  stone  and  bone,  and  hammered  out  ornaments  and 
weapons  from  the  native  copper,  which  they  picked  up.  They  were  traders  and 
slave-holders,  purchasing  slaves  from  neighboring  tribes  or  capturing  them  in 
war.  The  Tagish,  living  on  the  headwaters  of  the  Lewis  River,  is  the  only 
inland  tribe  of  this  stock. 

Most  of  the  Tlinkit  tribes  are  in  some  degree  civilized,  and  in  summer  work 
in  the  canneries  of  Alaska.    They  receive  no  aid  from  the  Government. 

KULANAPAN  FAMILY 

The  region  occupied  by  this  family  extended  back  from  the  shores  of  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  south  of  the  Russian  River  in  northern  California.  There  were 
a  large   number  of  tribes  or  villages. 


i  t 


FORMER   DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  INDIANS 
LUTUAMIAN  FAMILY 


59 


Two  tribes,  the  Klamath  and  the  Modoc,  belong  to  this  family.  The  latter 
will  be  remembered  in  connection  with  the  so-called  Modoc  war,  in  which 
General  Canby  was  killed. 

MUSKHOGEAN  FAMILY 

South  of  the  Algonquians  and  Iroquois,  and  extending  from  the  Mississippi 
River  on  the  west  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean  on  the  east  and  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
on  the  south,  lived  the  Muskhogean  tribes.  They  occupied  a  part  of  Tennessee 
and  most  of  Mississippi,  Alabama  and  Georgia.  On  the  borders  of  this  ter- 
ritory lived  a  few  small  unrelated  stocks,  while  most  of  Florida  to  "-.he  south- 
ward was  occupied  by  the  now  extinct  Timuquanan  family. 

The  tribes  of  the  Muskhogean  family  lived  in  a  fertile  country  with 
abundant  rainfall  and  were  well  advanced  and  prosperous.  They  resided  in 
permanent  towns  with  strong  and  durable  wooden  buildings,  often  placed  for 
defense  on  artificial  mounds.  They  cultivated  the  ground,  raising  large  crops, 
and  their  stone  weapons  and  utensils  were  of  striking  beauty. 

Among  the  Muscogee,  descent  was  in  the  mother's  line.  Women  were 
honored  and  sometimes  were  chiefs.  The  tribes  were  divided  into  gentes, 
and  marriage  was  forbidden  within  the  gens.  The  burial  customs  somewhat 
resembled  those  of  the  Hurons,  the  bones  of  the  dead,  after  a  certain  time,  being 
cleaned  and  deposited  in  a  common  sepulchral  mound.  They  have  traditions 
of  a  migration  from  the  west  and  northwest.  Many  of  the  customs  of  the 
Muscogee  bear  close  resemblance  to  those  of  the  so-called  "Mound-Builders" 
of  the  Ohio  Valley  and  it  is  probable  that  they  are  the  descendants  of  those 
people,  about  whom  there  has  been  so  much  speculation. 

Most  of  the  Muscogee  of  the  present  day  are  in  the  Indian  Territory. 
Several  of  the  tribes  are  practically  extinct  or  absorbed,  but  the  Creek,  Chocta, 
Chikasa  and  Seminole  still  survive  as  considerable  tribes.  There  are  said  to  be 
a  few  Chocta  in  Mississippi  and  the  Florida  Semjnoles  art  well  known. 

NAHUATLAN  FAMILY 

This  family,  which  was  formerly  regarded  as  belonging  to  the  Shoshonean 
linguistic  stock,  is  represented  by  a  number  of  tribes,  most  of  which  reside  in 
Mexico.  It  was  one  of  the  three  principal  divisions  of  Dr.  Brinton's  Uto- 
Aztecan  family.     Its  territory  lies  south  of  the  United  States. 

NATCHESAN   FAMILY 

The  people  of  this  stock  resided  on  the  Mississippi  River  not  far  from  the 
present  town  of  Natchez.    There  appear  to  have  been  two  tribes,  the  Natches 


bo 


IHli   INDIANS  OF   TO-UAY 


l! 


ii'i 


I 


ami  tilt:  Taensa.  The  latter  have  lon>;  been  extinct,  and  nothing  is  known  about 
their  ian^uat^e  further  than  the  statements  of  the  old  writers  that  it  was  allied  to 
that  of  the  Natches. 

in  1882  a  supi)ose<l  vocabulary  and  jjrammar  of  the.  Taensa  lanp;iiaKe  was 
published  in  Paris  by  J.  I).  I  laumonte'.  It  was  received  by  American  students 
with  ^jreat  interest,  but  a  little  examination  showed  that  the  supposed  lanKua^e 
had  been  invented  by  the  man  who  published  it,  and  who  pretended  to  have 
derived  his  materials  from  an  ancient  Spanish  manuscript. 

In  the  American  Anthropologist  for  July,  i8(yy,  Mr.  James  Mooney  has  given 
a  very  interesting  account  of  the  extermination  of  the  Natches. 

There  are  still  a  very  few  Natches  among  the  Creeks  in  the  Indian 
Territory. 

PIMAN    FAMILY 

In  the  Piman  family  are  included  several  desert  inhabiting  tribes  which  live 
in  southern  Arizona  and  in  Mexico.  Of  these  the  best  known  are  the  Pima  and 
the  Papago,  with  which  last  are  usually  mentioned  the  Maricopas,  who,  however, 
though  for  two  centuries  associated  with  the  Pimas,  belong  to  a  different  family. 
Such  association  of  two  tribes  of  different  families  is  not  uncommon.  Another 
example  of  it  is  seen  in  the  case  of  the  Blackfeet  and  the  Sarsi. 

The  Piman  tribes  are  believed  by  eminent  authorities  to  have  been  the 
occupants  of  the  valley  of  the  Gila  River  at  the  time  when  that  country  sup- 
ported a  large  population  of  agricultural  people,  who  watered  the  land  by 
extensive  irrigating  ditches  and  occupied  permanent  houses  collected  together  in 
considerable  towns.  These  were  the  builders  of  the  Gisas  (irandes  and  of  those 
other  ruins  in  that  region  which  have  been  the  subject  of  so  much  speculation 
and  have  given  rise  to  so  many  theories. 

When  the  early  Catholic  missionaries  first  came  to  the  Pimas,  they  found 
them  occupying  houses  built  of  large  adobe  bricks,  and  sometimes  roofed  with 
tiles,  or  built  of  wood  and  plastered  with  mud. 

Piman  tradition  claims  these  ruins  as  their  former  homes,  and  some  of  the 
tribes  were  also  the  builders  and  occupants  of  some  of  the  cliff  dwellings,  so 
abundant  in  the  region.  From  this  territory,  the  Pimas  were  driven  by  the 
attacks  of  the  Athapascan  invaders  from  the  north,  and  were  forced  to  flee 
southward  to  their  relatives  in  the  desert.  The  Apaches  still  relate  the  tradition 
of  their  attacks  on  the  cliff-dwellers,  long,  long  ago,  and  tell  how  they  drove  them 
from  their  homes.  Nevertheless,  the  Pimas  are  said  by  the  early  historians  to 
have  been  a  brave,  as  well  as  an  industrious  people. 

Besides  the  corn  which  they  grew  and  on  which  they  chiefly  subsisted, 
these  tribes  raised  cotton,  which  they  wove  and  dyed  with  much  skill. 


SIX  TOES 

KIOWA 


i 


I 


FORMLK   DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  INDIANS 


6i 


PUEBLO    FAMILIRS 

Untlcr  the  genera!  title  Pueblo,  a  Spanish  word  meaning  town,  arc  grouped 
tosethcr  in  thi:  public  estimation  members  of  four  different  lanKua({e  stocks,  who 
are  called  Pueblo  Indians,  because  they  inhabit  large  communal  houses  of  two  or 
more  stories.  Their  method  of  life  has  nothing  to  do  with  their  race  ;  they 
were  obliged  to  adopt  it  as  a  means  of  protection  against  their  enemies. 

Many  speculations  have  been  indulged  in  with  regard  to  the  ruins  of  houses, 
cliff  dwellings,  irrigation  ditches  and  other  works  which  are  scattered  through 
the  Southwest,  chiefly  in  New  Mexico  and  Arizona  and  to  the  southward  ;  and 
these  constructions  have  been  supposed  to  be  relics  of  some  high  civilization 
which  existed  in  that  region  in  prehistoric  times.  No  such  elaborate  theories  are 
needed  to  explain  these  remains,  which  were  probably  construct'-d  in  part 
by  the  ancestors  of  the  present  Pueblo  tribes,  who  at  one  time  were  much  more 
numerous  than  now,  and  in  part  by  the  Pimas. 

When  the  Spaniards  under  Coronado  marched  north  to  explore  the  land, 
they  found  the  Pueblos  living  in  towns  and  cultivating  the  soil  by  means  of  irriga- 
tion ;  safe  within  their  fortresses  from  the  attacks  of  their  fierce  enemies  of  th** 
lower  land,  and  for  a  short  time  protected  there,  even  against  the  Spaniards  clad 
in  armor  and  bearing  guns.  To-day,  the  Pueblos  live  much  as  they  lived  then, 
but  most  of  them  now  speak  Spanish  and  many  bear  Spanish  names.  They 
have  had  Spanish  missionaries  for  more  than  300  years. 

They  have  always  cultivated  the  soil,  growing  corn,  cotton,  peaches  and 
apricots,  and  have  considerable  herds  of  horses,  donkeys,  cows  and  sheep- 
They  are  skillful  weavers,  make  pottery  and  to  some  extent  work  the  turquoise, 
which  they  mine  from  veins  in  the  mountains.  They  understand  the  art  of 
weaving  feathers  and  make  some  basket  work  ;  they  grind  their  corn  on  the 
stone  mill  called  metate  and  thresh  their  wheat  by  driving  horses  over  the  straw 
lying  on  the  ground  ;  then  choosing  a  time  of  day  when  the  wind  blows,  the 
people  enter  the  corral  and  throw  grain  and  chaff  into  the  air  and  the  wind 
winnows  it  for  them.  It  is  then  gathered  up,  placed  in  baskets  and  once  more 
cleaned  by  being  poured  in  a  little  stream  from  a  height  down  to  the  ground, 
when  it  is  ready  to  be  used. 

The  celebrated  houses  of  the  Pueblos  are  built  either  of  stone  or  of  adobes 
and  each  one  is  usually  occupied  by  the  members  of  a  single  gens.  When 
stones  are  used  for  the  houses,  they  are  held  together  by  mud  mortar. 

The  dwellings  on  the  cliffs  were  usually  built  on  ledges,  and  often  consisted 
only  of  an  outer  wall  enclosing  a  cave.  For  the  walls  squared  stones  only  were 
used,  and  the  homes  were  reached  sometimes  by  ladders,  sometimes  by  steps  cut 
in  the  rock,  and  sometimes  even  by  ropes  let  down  from  above. 

The  religious  ceremonial  of  the  Pueblos,  whatever  their  stock,  is  elaborate, 


b2 


THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


ii 


•m 


and  has  been  carefully  studied  by  the  workers  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology.  It 
is  among  the  Pueblo  Indians  that  the  famous  snake  dance  takes  place.  This  is 
performed  with  live  rattlesnakes,  which  the  dancers  carry  about  in  the  teeth  as 
they  rush  through  the  dance.  The  ceremony  is  curious  and  interesting  and  has 
been  many  times  described.  It  is  a  form  of  worship  ;  in  effect  a  prayer  for  rain. 
Setting  aside  the  Moki — the  Hopi — which  belongs  to  the  Shoshonean 
family,  the  Pueblo  people  are  grouped  in  three  families. 

KERESAN  FAMILY 
This  family  includes  the  Pueblos  known  as: 


Acoma, 

Cochiti, 

Hasatch, 

Laguna, 

Paguate, 

Punyeestye, 

Punyekia, 

Pusityitcho, 


San  Felipe, 

Santa  Ana, 

Santo  Domingo, 

Seemunah, 

Sia, 

Wapuchuseamma, 

Ziamma. 


TANOAN  FAMILY 


Fourteen  Pueblos  are  included  in  this  language  stock.     They  are: 


Hano, 

Isleta  (in  New  Mexico), 

Isleta  (in  Texas), 

Jemez, 

Nambe, 

Picuris, 

Pojoaque, 


Sandia, 

San  Ildefonso, 

San  Juan, 

Santa  Clara, 

Senecu, 

Taos, 

Tesuque. 


All  these  villages  were  upon  the  P.io  Grande  and  its  tributaries,  except  the 
pueblo  of  Hano,  which  a  long  time  ago,  united  itself  with  the  Moki  settlement 
to  the  east  of  the  river  Colorado  Chiquito. 

SALISHAN    FAMILY 

Many  of  the  tribes  of  this  family  lived  on  the  seacoast  of  Oregon,  while 
others  occupied  almost  the  whole  of  northwestern  Washington,  a  considerable 
arei  in  eastern  Vancouver  Islands,  and  a  great  territory  on  the  mainland  in 
British  Columbia,  extending  far  inland.  They  also  lived  along  a  considerable 
part  of  the  Upper  Columbia  River.  There  were  between  sixty  and  seventy 
small  tribes  and  there  are  still  existing  perhaps  20,000  people  of  ♦^'lis  family. 


''11 


the 
iment 


Cllli:i'   WIIITI'".  MAN 
K  I(n\-  \ 


1i 


/ 


f: 


nil 


1 
.1 


FORMER  DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  INDIANS 


63 


The  Salish  are  a  people  who  depend  in  some  degree  on  hunting  but  chiefly 
on  fish,  which  they  capture  on  the  seacoast  or  in  the  rivers  when  the  salmon  run 
up  to  spawn.  They  differ  from  many  tribes  in  that  descent  is  in  the  male  line, 
and  the  child  docs  not  follow  the  mother. 

The  best  known  tribes  of  Salish  stock  in  the  United  States  to-day  are  the 
Flathead,  Kalispel,  Pend  d'Oreilles  and  Spokane.  The  Flatheads  never  flattened 
the  head,  as  we  understand  it,  this  practice  having  been  followed  by  other  tribes 
living  to  the  northwest  of  them.  Mr.  Mooney  has  shown  that  the  term  was 
applied  to  the  Flatheads  in  contempt,  by  tribes  further  to  the  west,  who  by 
artificial  means  had  changed  the  shape  of  the  head,  making  it  pointed.  The 
term  as  used  by  the  more  westerly  Indians  meant  head  that  is  flat  on  top,  t.  e.,  not 
pointed;  but  the  first  travelers  gave  this  name  to  tribes  which  compressed  the 
forehead,  meaning  flat  forehead.  Thus  Indians  and  whites  used  the  same  name 
for  two  diametrically  opposite  things,  and  the  term  was  naturally  misunderstood 
by  both. 

SERIAN    FAMILY 

The  Seri  and  two  related  tribes  were  formerly  considered  as  belonging  to 
the  Yuman  family,  but  recent  investigations,  resulting  in  a  fuller  knowledge  of 
their  language,  has  led  to  the  establishment  of  the  Serian  family.  The  Seris 
occupy  the  deserts  of  the  eastcoast  of  the  Gulf  of  California  as  well  as  some 
islands  in  the  Gulf.  They  are  perhaps  the  most  primitive  of  the  North  American 
tribes.  They  still  use  stone  weapons,  and  make  curious  boats  of  bundles  of 
rushes  tied  together.  They  are  said  to  use  poisoned  arrows.  We  owe  most 
of  what  is  known  about  the  people  of  this  family  to  the  studies  of  that  emi- 
nent ethnologist,  Mr.  W  J  McGee.    Its  territory  is  south  of  the  United  States. 

SHAHAPTIAN    FAMILY 

This  family  occupied  a  large  area  of  country  along  the  Columbia  River  and 
its  tributaries,  between  the  parallels  of  44"  and  46*^  North  Latitude.  They  thus 
touched  the  country  of  the  Shoshoni  and  the  Blackfeet  on  the  southeast  and 
east,  and  extended  westward  to  the  Pacific  coast  tribes.  They  sometimes 
crossed  the  mountains  and  descended  to  the  plains  to  hunt   buffalo. 

The  best  known  among  the  Shahaptian  tribes  are  the  Nez  Percys,  whose 
celebrated  dash  for  freedom  from  their  old  reservation  toward  British  America 
will  always  be  famous  in  Indian  history.  This  so-called  war  was  brought 
about  by  the  encroachments  on  their  reservation  of  white  people,  while  the 
remonstrances  sent  to  the  Government  by  the  Indians  were  disregarded. 
Collisions  between  the  trespassers  and  the  Indians  became  frequent,  and  a 
commission  was  sent  from  Washington  to  try  to  induce  the  Indians  to  move 


n 


/> 


64  THE  INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 

away  to  some  other  spot.  They  acceded  to  this  request,  but  while  they  were 
preparing  to  move,  and  were  collecting  their  cattle  and  horses  for  the  change,  a 
band  of  white  robbers  attacked  them,  killed  one  or  more  of  the  men  in  charge, 
and  ran  of?  with  the  cattle.  This  was  the  climax.  Joseph,  chief  of  the  Nez 
Percys,  could  no  longer  restrain  his  men,  who  attacked  a  neighboring  settlement 
and  killed  twenty-one  people.  Troops  were  ordered  out  to  punish  them,  ard 
the  Indians  began  their  retreat.  The  band  numbered  about  four  hundred  and 
fifty,  of  whom  more  than  three-fourths  were  women  and  children.  Yet  they 
crossed  the  Rocky  Mountains,  came  out  on  the  plains,  and  after  the  loss  of  more 
than  half  their  men,  had  reached  the  Bearspaw  Mountains,  almost  within  sight 
of  the  British  line,  when  they  were  overtaken  by  fresh  troops,  their  retreat  was 
cut  off,  and  they  finally  surrendered  ;  only,  however,  on  pledge  that  they  should 
return  to  Idaho  in  the  spring.  Nevertheless,  they  were  sent  to  the  Indian 
Territory,  where  fever  still  further  reduced  their  numbers,  and  not  until  seven 
years  later  was  the  promise  kept  which  had  been  made  on  their  surrender,  and 
they  were  sent  back  to  the  place  from  which  they  had  come. 

The  Nez  Perce's  are  a  fine  race,  who  may  compare  well  with  any  Indians  on 
this  continent.  As  long  ago  as  1843  they  were  -described  in  the  report  of  the 
Indian  Commissioner  as  "  noble,  industrious,  sensible."  They  had  always  been 
friendly  to  the  whites,  notwithstanding  the  many  wrongs  that  they  had  suffered 
at  their  hands. 


'  i 


it 


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SHOSHONEAN    FAMILY 

The  vast  areas  originally  controlled  by  the  Algonquian  and  Athapascan 
families  have  already  been  spoken  of,  but  there  was  one  other  language  stock 
whose  original  territory  almost  equaled  theirs.  This  was  the  group  known  as 
the  Shoshonean.  If  the  Algonquians  controlled  a  country  stretching  from 
Georgia  to  Labrador  and  from  the  Atlantic  Ocean  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and 
the  Athapascans  had  tribes  on  the  borders  of  the  Arctic  Ocean  and  also  in 
northern  Mexico,  the  territory  of  the  Shoshoneans  extended  from  near  the 
parallel  of  49°  north  latitude  almost  uninterruptedly  south  to  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama,  and  from  the  Pacific  Ocean  east  to  the  great  plains,  and  even  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico. 

Dr.  Brinton  has  called  this  the  Uto-Aztecan  stock.  It  was  remarkable,  not 
only  for  the  extent  of  territory  which  it  occupied,  but  also  for  the  great  diversity 
of  cultures  found  among  its  tribes.  The  so-called  Digger  Indians  of  Nevada 
and  California  are  the  lowest  physical  types  found  among  the  North  American 
Indians,  and  were  also  the  most  miserable  in  the  life  they  led,  while  the  Aztecs 
of  Mexico  possessed  the  highest  culture  of  any  of  the  inhabitants  of  North 
America. 


» 


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frsity 
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Ktecs 
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PAULINO  DIAZ 

KIOWA 


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FORMER   DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  INDIANS 


65 


Among  the  best  I  nown  of  the  Shoshonean  tribes  were  the  Comanches,  who, 
more  than  two  hur.ured  years  ago,  ranged  over  the  gre:it  plains  as  far  north  as 
the  Yellowstone  River.  Gradually  driven  south  from  this  country,  they  have 
been  in  our  own  time  fierce  raiders  in  the  Southwest,  harrying  without  mercy  the 
settlements  of  Texas,  and  carrying  their  war  expeditions  far  south  into  Mtxico, 
whence  they  supplied  themselves  constantly  with  fresh  herds  of  horses  and  with 
captives  who  grew  up  in  the  tribe,  and,  on  reaching  manhood,  became  fierce 
enemies  of  their  own  blood.  The  Comanches  are  very  closely  related  to  the 
Snakes,  or  Shoshonis,  and  it  is  said  that  a  part  of  them  separated  from  the 
Shoshonis  not  much  more  than  one  hundred  years  ago.  The  tribal  sign  by  which 
they  denote  themselves  is  identical  with  that  for  the  Shoshonis.  Most  of  the 
people  of  this  stock  are  sun  and  light  worshipers,  and  all  of  them  have  a  great 
reverence  for  the  coyote,  which  is  in  some  sense  deified  by  them  and 
corresponds  in  a  measure  with  Napi  and  Nanibozho,  of  the  Algonquian  tribes. 

The  Moki,  or  Hopi,  belong  to  the  Shoshonean  family,  but  have  adopted 
the  Pueblo  method  of  life. 

There  are  not  far  from  fifty  tribes  of  this  stock,  most  of  which,  however,  live 
in  Mexico  or  to  the  southward.  Among  the  best  known  of  those  found  in  the 
United  States  are  the  following  :  Bannock,  Chemehuevi,  Comanche,  Gosiute, 
Piute,  Paviotso.  Shoshoni,  Moki,  Ute. 


SIOUAN   FAMILY 

Because  of  the  warfare  which  in  recent  years  has  been  carried  on  between 
the  Sioux  and  the  white  men,  this  is  one  of  the  more  familiar  of  Indian  names. 
The  northern  members  call  themselves  Dakota,  meaning  allied  or  confederated, 
while  the  English  name,  Sioux,  is  a  corruption  of  the  term  applied  to  them  by 
the  Algonquians,  meaning  snakes,  and  so  enemies.  In  modern  years  the  tribes 
have  lived  chiefly  about  the  westernmost  of  the  Great  Lakes,  and  extended 
thence  to  and  down  the  Missouri  River  and  far  out  on  the  great  plains  ;  but  in 
ancient  times  this  was  not  the  case. 

The  Sioux  are  a  strong  and  hardy  people,  many  of  whom  in  recent  years 
have  supported  themselves  chiefly  by  hunting  the  buffalo,  though  the  Mandans 
and  one  or  two  sub-tribes  of  the  Sioux  have  always  continued  the  practice  of 
their  agricultural  pursuits.  They  do  not  appear  to  have  had  the  gentile  system, 
or,  if  so,  it  was  not  general.  Their  government  was  by  chiefs,  and  the  son 
inherited  from  the  father. 

Until  within  a  few  years,  it  was  generally  believed  that  these  tribes  had 
reached  their  modern  home  in  the  middle  west,  by  emigration  from  some  point 
still  fartherwest,  but  theinvestigationso."  Hale,  Gatschet  and  Mooney  have  clearly 
shown  that  the  original  home  of  the  S  oux  was  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  and  that 


/ 

I 


66 


THE  INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


certain  small  aggregations  of  people,  whose  relationships  were  long  unknown, 
who  have  lived  on  the  coast  within  one  or  two  hundred  years,  are  remnants 
of  Siouan  tribes  who  had  earlier  journeyed  westward. 

It  is  altogether  probable  that  those  tribes  found  in  the  west  when  the  first 
white  men  reached  the  Missouri  River  had  emigrated  from  their  eastern  home 
not  very  long  before. 

Nearly  two  hundred  years  ago,  Gravier  stated  that  the  Miami  and  the 
Illinois  knew  the  Ohio  River  as  the  river  of  the  Akansea,  because  that  people 
had  formerly  lived  along  it.  The  Akansea  is  the  Kwapa  tribe  of  Dakota 
stock  which  formerly  lived  on  the  Arkansas  River.  Catlin  reporuid  that  the 
Mandans,  whom  he  found  living  far  up  the  Missouri  River,  had  a  tiadition  that 
they  were  emigrants  from  the  east,  and  this  tradition  he  used  in  support  of  his 
belief  that  l..ey  were  descendants  of  the  Welshmen  supposed  to  have  reached 
America  under  Prince  Madoc.  Major  Sibley,  more  than  sixty  years  ago,  received 
from  an  old  man  of  the  Osages,  a  tribe  of  Dakota  stock,  essentially  the  same 
statement  which  is  quoted  by  Gravier.  The  old  Osage  averred  that  his  tribe 
had  originally  emigrated  from  the  east,  following  the  Ohio  River  down.  He 
described  that  stream  and  the  falls  of  the  Ohio  at  Louisville,  where  his  people 
had  dwelt  for  some  time,  and  where  certain  bands  had  separated  from  the  main 
body  and  traveled  away  through  the  neighboring  country.  Those  who  continued 
their  march  down  the  river,  when  they  reached  the  Mississippi,  proceeded  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  and  then  other  bands  broke  off  from  the  main  body, 
some  going  up  the  Mississippi,  others  up  the  Missouri. 

There  is  thus  a  considerable  body  of  independent  traditional  evidence  going 
to  show  that  such  a  migration  took  place.  This  alone  would  be  strong,  but 
besides  this  we  have  indisputable  evidence  of  their  presence  in  the  east,  in  the 
language  of  Siouan  tribes,  known  to  have  had  their  homes  on  the  Atlantic  coast 
since  the  white  people  came.  In  his  interesting  paper  on  the  Siouan  Tribes  of 
the  East,  published  by  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  Mr.  Mooney  shows  that  at 
the  time  of  the  establishment  of  the  southern  colonies  in  America,  the  western 
half  of  what  is  now  Virginia,  almost  the  whole  central  portion  of  North 
Carolina,  and  the  whole  northeastern  part  of  South  Carolina,  were  occupied  by 
tribes,  of  which  many  were  certainly  of  this  stock.  The  banks  of  the  river 
Neuse,  and  the  seaboard  from  Cape  Lookout  northward,  were  held  by  tribes  of 
other  blood,  the  Tuscaroras,  living  along  the  Neuse,  while  north  of  them  were 
tribes  of  Algonquian  blood,  excepting  only  the  Nottoways,  who,  like  the 
Tuscaroras,  were  Iroquois.  Between  these  Siouan  tribes  and  the  fierce  Iroquois, 
whose  home  was  chiefly  in  what  is  now  northern  and  central  New  York,  there 
was  a  bitter  feud,  and  the  stronger  and  more  virile  people  of  the  north  made 
constant  raids  to  the  southward,  and  kept  the  Siouan  tribes  which  inhabited  the 


FORMER  DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  INDIANS 


67 


spurs  and  foothills  of  the  southern  Allegheny  Mountains  in  a  state  of  constant 
alarm.  So  fierce  and  so  continual  were  these  assaults,  that  these  southern  tribes 
early  implored  the  help  of  the  English  agai  t  the  northern  enemy,  and  at 
length,  when  this  help  was  not  given  them,  a  1  uir,*.er  of  the  tribes  left  their 
villages  and  assembled  in  close  proximity  to  Fort  Christanna,  where  they  hoped 
that  they  might  be  protected  from  attack.  Even  this  did  not  save  them,  for 
not  long  after  they  had  '  'en  refuge  there,  a  party  of  Iroquois  attacked  them 
under  the  very  guns  of  ^  o  fort,  killed  several  of  their  men  and  took  others 
captive. 

It  was  not  until  1722  that  the  colonists  were  able  to  persuade  the  Iroquois  to 
make  with  these  southern  tribes  what  proved  to  be  a  lasting  peace.  But  this 
peace  came  too  late  to  save  them  from  extinction.  Broken  and  decimated  by 
the  attacks  of  their  enemies,  and  still  further  enfeebled  by  their  closer  contact 
with  the  whites,  they  melted  away,  and  disappeared ;  some  of  them,  as 
individuals,  joining  tribes  of  their  own  or  alien  blood,  and  being  absorbed  by 
them;  while  still  others  migrated  by  little  companies,  and  were  heard  of  here 
and  there  for  a  hundred  years  or  two,  and  then  disappeared,  or  perhaps  to-day 
are  known  as  living  by  tens  or  twenties  with  some  other  tribes,  yet  still  preserving 
their  names  and  something  of  their  language. 

The  migration  of  the  Sioux,  whom  we,  in  our  day,  know  as  inhabiting  the 
west,  perhaps  took  place  long  before  all  this.  How  those  tribes  moved  west,  or 
when,  we  do  not  know,  but  we  may  imagine  that  many,  with  whose  names  we 
are  most  familiar,  have  reached  their  modern  home  since  the  discovery  of 
America.  Mr.  Mooney  says,  "  The  absence  of  Siouan  names  along  De  Soto's 
route  in  the  interior  country  held  later  by  the  Osage  is  significant,  in  view  of 
the  fact  that  we  at  once  recognize  as  Muskhogean  a  number  of  the  names 
which  occur  in  the  narrative  of  his  progress  through  the  Gulf  States.  The 
inference  would  be  that  the  Muskhogean  tribes  were  already  established  in  the 
southern  region,  where  we  have  always  known  them,  before  the  Siouan  tribes 
had  fairly  left  the  Mississippi.  In  accordance  with  Osage  t'  'dition,  the  emigrant 
tribes,  after  crossing  the  mountains,  probably  followed  dou  a  the  valley  of  New 
River  and  the  Big  Sandy  to  the  Ohio,  descending  the  latter  to  its  mouth,  and 
there  separated,  a  part  going  up  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri,  the  others 
continuing  their  course  southward  and  southwestward.  In  their  slow  march 
toward  the  setting  sun,  the  Kwapa  probably  brought  up  the  rear,  as  their  name 
lingered  longest  in  the  tradition  of  the  Ohio  tribes,  and  they  were  yet  in  the 
vicinity  of  that  stream  when  encountered  by  De  Soto." 

It  is  interesting  to  find  how  universal  this  tradition  of  an  eastern  migration 
is  among  the  different  tribes  of  Siouan  stock.  Even  the  Assinaboines,  who 
have  long  resided  in  northern  Dakota  and  in  Canada,  say  to-day  that  many 


ii- 


.  1 


1!!: 


68 


THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


generations  ago  their  fathers  lived  on  the  salt  water,  and  while  they  cannot  tell 
how  long  ago  this  was,  nor  indicate  the  route  followed  on  their  western  journey- 
ings,  f'"«!y  are  all  positive  as  to  the  main  fact. 

It  appears  to  be  commonly  thought,  that  because  in  modern  times  the  Sioux 
were  buffalo  hunters,  they  had  never  practiced  agriculture  This  is  an  unwar- 
rantable inference.  It  is  altogether  probable  that  when  they  lived  in  their 
eastern  homes,  and  even  during  their  slow  migration  westward,  most  Siouan 
tribfs,  if  not  all  of  them,  tlepended  largely  on  farming  for  their  living,  and  that 
it  was  only  after  they  had  reached  the  country  of  the  buffalo  and  hail  found 
flesh  food  so  abundant,  and  hence  life  so  easy,  and  had  encountered  also  a  climate 
dryer  than  anything  that  they  had  ever  before  known,  that  they  gradually 
gave  up  the  practice  of  tilling  the  soil.  The  Mandans  never  abandoned  agri- 
culture, and  probably  the  t)mahas  did  not.  Neither  did  certain  tribes  farther 
west;  those  which  ceased  to  practice  it  did  so,  it  is  reasonable  to  believe,  because 
of  the  changed  conditions  of  their  environment. 

Of  the  tribes  of  Dakota  stock  now,  or  recently  living  in  the  western  country, 
the  best  known  are  the  Dakota  jjroper  or  Sioux.  Others,  less  important,  are  the 
Mandan,  the  Omaha,  or  people  "  up  the  stream";  the  Crow,  the  Osage,  the  Oto, 
Missouria  and  the  Kwapa,  or  "down  stream  "  people  Besides  these  are  lesser 
tribes,  the  Iowa,  Kansa,  Minitari,  Ponca  and  Winnebago. 

The  tribes  of  Siouan  stock,  of  whom  we  know  as  living  on  the  seacoast  in 
historic  times,  were  the  Biloxi  on  the  Pascagoula  River  in  southeastern  Missis- 
sippi, the  Tutelo  in  southern  Virginia,  the  Catawba  in  northern  South  Carolina, 
and  the  VVoccon  in  North  Carolina;  there  were  i>robably  many  other  tribes 
whose  names  have  been  forgotten. 

Some  well-known  Siouan  tribes  were  situated  as  follows  : 

Arkansas  or  Kwa|)a,  on  the  Lower  Arkansas  River. 

Assiniboine,  on  the  Saskatchewan  River. 

Crow,  on  the  Upper  Yellowstone  River. 

Iowa,  on  the  Iowa  River. 

Kansa  or  Kaw,  on  the  Kansas  River. 

Minitari,  or  Gros  Ventres  of  the  Village,  on  the  Missouri  River. 

Mandan,  on  the  Missouri  River. 

Ogallala,  west  of  the  Missouri  Rivers. 

Omaha,  on  the  Elkhorn  River. 

Osage,  on  the  Arkansas  and  Osage  Rivers. 

Oto,  on  the  Lower  Platte  River. 

Ponca,  near  the  Oto. 

Sioux  (in  general),  on  the  headwaters  of  the  Mississippi  and  on  the 
tributaries  of  the  Middle  Missouri. 

Winnebago,  on  the  western  shore  of  Lake  Michigan. 

Yankton,  on  the  Upper  Iowa. 


the 


I'EURO  CAJETE 

rUEBLO 


'  /il 


« 


FORMER   DlSTRimrnON   or  TMF.   INDIANS  60 

8kitta<;etan  family 

To  this  family  belong  tlvr  Uuiiia  of  Queen  Charlotte's  hlands  and  Prince  of 
Wales  Archipelaijo,  In  appearance,  ways  of  life,  and  in  artistic  development, 
the  tribes  of  this  group  closely  resemble  those  of  the  Koluschan  family;  and, 
indeed,  this  resemblance  extends  to  most  of  the  coast  tribes  of  northwestern 
America,  between    Puget  Sound,   in  the  United  States,  and  Code's   Inlet,  in 

TIMUyUANAN  FAMILY 
Most  of  Florida— if  not  all  of  it — was  occupied  by  people  of  this  stock, 
concerning  whom  very  little  is  known.  It  is  quite  certain  that  the  country  from 
the  northern  boundary  of  Florida,  as  far  south  as  Lake  Okeechobee,  was 
occupied  by  them  and  they  seem  to  have  had  many  tribes  or  villages.  They 
have  been  extinct  for  more  than  a  hundred  years,  but  the  records  of  their  speech 
left  by  the  Spanish  missionaries  show  that  it  was  an  independent  stock,  and  the 
best  authorities  believe  that  it  had  affinities  with  the  Carib  language. 

TONIKAN  FAMILY 
The  Tonikas  lived   near  the    Mississippi    River   in   two   settlements.    The 
northernmost  lay  wholly  in  the  territory  of  the  Muscogee,  while  the  southern- 
most was  on  both  sides  of  the  Mississippi  River  in  Mississippi  and  Louisiana. 
There   are  said  to  be  still  a  very  few  Tonikas   residing  in  Avoyelles   Parish, 

Louisiana. 

TONKAWAN  FAMILY 

F'ifty  years  ago  the  Tonkawas  were  a  tribe  of  some  importance,  roaming 
over  western  Texas.  They  long  served  as  faithful  scouts  for  the  United  States 
troops  in  the  Southwest,  and  their  services  to  the  government  ultimately  led  to 
their  being  overwhelmed  in  revenge  by  other  tribes  whom  they  had  helped  to 
subdue,  and  thus  to  their  practical  extinction.  There  are  now  only  about  Hfty- 
seven  Tonkawas  left. 

They  are  reported  to  have  deified  the  wolf,  which  they  held  as  their  ancestor 
and  creator;  a  belief  which  reminds  us  somewhat  of  those  held  by  many  tribes 
on  the  Pacific  slope  concerning  the  prairie  wolf. 

UCHEAN  FAMILY 

The  Uchis  occupied  a  small  territory  lying  east  of  the  Muscogee  in  central 
Georgia.  In  many  of  their  customs  they  resemble  the  Creeks,  which  may  in  part 
be  accounted  for  by  their  long  association  with  that  tribe.  They  call  themselves 
"children  of  the  sun,"  which  they  regard  as  their  mother.  They  have  a  tradition 
that  a  very  long  time  ago  the  Creeks  conquered  them  and  brought  them  from 
their  ancestral  home  to  reside  with  the  victors. 

Several  hundred  Uchis  still  live  with  the  Creeks  in  the  Indian  Territory. 


70 


THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 
WAIILATPUAN  FAMILY 


'     / 


Only  two  tribes,  the  Cayuse  and  Molale,  represent  this  small  family.  They 
lived  near  the  Columbia  River  ;  the  Cayuse  near  the  mouth  of  the  Walla  Walla; 
while  the  Molale,  a  mountain  tribe,  lived  south  of  the  Columbia  River,  about 
Mounts  Hood  and  Jefferson. 

WAKASHAN  FAMILY 

This  large  family,  consisting  of  thirty-seven  tribes,  occupied  the  coast  of 
northwest  Washington,  of  Vancouver  Island  and  parts  of  British  Columbia.  It 
included  such  well-known  names  as  the  Vuclulaht,  the  Bellabella,  the  Kwakiutl 
and  the  Quatsino;  and  the  group  has  been  carefully  investigated  by  that  eminent 
student  Dr.  Franz  Boas. 

People  of  this  stock  were  fishermen  and  hunters  and  expert  canoemen, 
familiar  with  the  ways  of  the  sea.  They  were  skillful  with  the  harpoon,  the  fish 
spear  and  the  bow  and  arrow. 

They  were  great  respecters  of  wealth,  and  the  highest  ambition  of  each  man 
was  to  accumulate  as  much  property  as  possible,  in  order  that,  when  he  had 
acquired  a  sufficiency,  he  might  give  it  all  away  at  a  great  feast,  called  tx  potlatch, 
an  occasion  for  presenting  gifts. 

Among  these  people  descent  was  in  the  male  line,  the  child  following  the 
father.     The  men  were  brave  and  women  were  honored  for  their  virtue. 

In  most  of  their  ways  the  tribes  of  this  family  resembled  the  Koluschan  and 
Skittagetan  stocks. 

YAKONAN  FAMILY 

The  tribes  of  this  family  occupied  many  villages  on  the  western  coast  of 
Oregon,  and  on  the  streams  near  it.  They  were  chiefly  a  fishing  people.  The 
remnants  of  tribes  belonging  to  it  are  dispersed  among  various  agencies,  and 
little  is  known  of  their  present  condition. 

YANAN  FAMILY 

A  single  small  tribe  living  in  northern  California,  near  Lassen  Butte  and 
Round  Mountain,  California,  represents  this  family.  They  have  a  tradition  that 
they  came  from  the  far  East,  and  they  are  said  to  differ  much  in  appearance  from 
surrounding  tribes. 

YUMAN   FAMILY 

In  the  extreme  southwest,  along  the  Colorado  River  in  Arizona,  and  on  both 
sides  of  the  Gulf  of  California,  are  found  Indians  of  this  family,  represented  by  a 
number  of  tribes  and  still  sufficiently  numerous.  To  this  family  belong  the 
Yuma,  Maricopa,    Cocopa,    Havasupai,    Mohave,    Walapai,  and    other   tribes. 


both 

hy  a 

the 

■ibes. 


KX  tiOW  JOSF.  JESrS  XARAXGO 

SANTA    CLARA    I'l'KIIl.O 


^  1* 


FORMER  DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  INDIANS 


71 


Some  of  these  are  known  also  as  Apache  Mohave,  Apache  Tonto  and  Apache 
Yuma,  a  nomenclature  which  might  lead  to  the  confusing  of  these  people  with 
the  true  Apaches  of  Athapascan  stock.  As  Dr.  Brinton  has  pointed  out,  the  word 
Apache  is  merely  a  Yuma  term  for  fighting  men,  but  it  has  usually  been  applied 
to  the  people  of  Ti'nneh  stock,  and  should  be  confined  to  them. 

The  Yuman  is  a  strong,  vigorous  race,  possessed  of  considerable  energy  and 
a  willingness  to  work.  Many  tribes  were  agricultural,  but  of  course  the  crops 
that  they  raised  depended  in  large  measure  on  the  character  of  the  country  they 
occupied  ;  yet  even  the  Cocopas,  inhabiting  the  deserts  of  lower  California, 
grew  a  little  corn  and  a  few  squashes  in  hollows  between  the  rocks. 

The  Yumas  and  the  Maricopas  made  fine  pottery  and  good  baskets. 


ZUNIAN  FAMILY 

This  family  is  represented  by  the  single  Pueblo  of  Zuni,  on  a  river  of  the 
same  name  in  western  New  Mexico.  It  did  not  differ  markedly  from  other 
Pueblo  groups. 

OTHER  FAMILIES 

Besides  these,  there  were  a  number  of  other  families,  most  of  them  of  minor 
importance,  which  it  is  necessary  only  to  enumerate.     Such  were: 

Chimakuan  Family,  in  northwestern  Washington. 

Chimarikan  Family,  on  New  and  Trinity  Rivers,  California. 

Chumashan  Family,  from  San  Luis  Obispo,  California,  south  along  the  coast 
to  San  Buenaventura  and  inland,  including  the  Missions  Santa  Barbara,  Santa 
iHez  and  Purissima. 

CoAiiuiLTECAN  Family,  portions  of  Mexico  and  Texas,  including  the  state 
from  which  it  takes  its  name.     I'ractically  extinct. 

Costanoan  Family,  south  of  San  Francisco  Bay  to  Monterey,  California. 

EssELENiAN  Family,  from  the  Bay  of  Monterey  to  the  San  Lucia  Mountains. 

Kalapooian  Family,  valley  of  the  Willamette  River  in  Oregon. 

KusAN  Family,  about  Coos  Bay  in  Oregon. 

Mariposan  Family,  along  the  King's  River  and  Tulare  Lake,  California. 

Moquelumnan  Family,  on  the  Tuolumne  River,  California. 

Palaihnihan  Family,  valley  of  Pitt  River  in  northern  California. 

PujANAN  Family,  west  bank  of  the  Sacramento  River,  north  nearly  to  Pitt 
River. 

QuoRATEAN  Family,  on  the  Lower  Klamath  River,  California. 

Salinan  Family,  coast  about  the  Missions  of  San  Antonio  and  San  Miguel. 

Sastean  Family,  Upper  Klamath  River  and  north  as  far  as  Ashland,  Oregon. 


) 


w 


kit'! 


72 


THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-UAY 

Takii.man  1'amily,  Upper  Rot^iie  River  in  Oregon. 

Wasiioan  Famii.v,  Reno,  Nevada,  to  and  through  the  Carson  Valley. 

Weitspekan  Famii.v,  on  the  Lower  Klamath  River. 

WisiiosKAN  Family,  about  Humboldt  Bay,  California. 

YuKiAN  Family,  Round  X'alley,  Cal. 


We  are  accustomed  to  speak  and  think  of  Indian  tribes  and  linguistic  stocks, 
as  if,  under  former  conditions,  the  people  of  the  various  tribes  and  families  kept 
exclusively  to  themselves  and  never  mingled  their  blood  with  alien  currents. 
Such  a  notion  is  wholly  erroneous.  There  was  a  constant  infusion  of  new  blood 
into  all  the  tribes,  and  from  a  variety  of  sources.  In  times  of  peace,  there  were 
frequent  intermarriages  between  individuals  belonging  to  different  tribes,  as 
between  Ree  and  Siou.x  or  Cheyenne  ;  between  Cheyenne  and  Sioux  or  Ree 
or  Arapaho  or  Comanche  ;  between  Pawnee  and  Comanche  or  Cheyenne  or 
Omaha  or  Ree. 

In  time  of  war,  on  the  other  hand,  captives  were  constantly  being  taken; 
women  who  became  the  wives  of  their  captors  and  bore  them  children,  little 
boys  and  girls  who  were  adopted  and  grew  up  to  manhood  and  womanhood  as 
members  of  the  tribe  and  with  the  same  feeling  for  it  as  if  they  had  been  born  in 
the  camp.  Such  children,  in  the  course  of  time,  married  members  of  the  tribe, 
often  of  pure  blood.  Among  the  more  warlike  and  energetic  tribes,  this 
admixture  of  foreign  blood  was  very  great,  and  this  alien  strain  undoubtedly 
added  much  to  the  vigor  of  the  tribe,  not  only  improving  it  physically,  but  also 
giving  it  dash  and  energy.  In  the  case  of  the  Northern  Cheyenne,  three  out  of 
the  four  principal  chiefs  are  half-bloods  of  other  tribes,  and  it  may  well  be  that 
the  eminence  which  they  have  attained  is  in  part  due  to  their  mixed  blood. 

These  Northern  Cheyennesare  a  good  example  of  this  mixture  of  the  blood 
of  their  tribes.  From  Two  Moons — the  principal  chief — a  list  has  been  obtained 
of  the  tribes  with  which  at  times  they  have  been  at  war,  and  from  which  captives 
were  taken,  and  it  numbers  28,  as  follows  :  Apache,  Kiowa,  Comanche,  Pah 
Ute,  Mountain  Ute,  Spaniard  (Mexican),  Snake,  Bannock,  Grass  Lodge  People 
(unidentified),  Flat  Head,  Nez  Perce",  Blackfoot,  Assinaboine,  Cree,  Ree,  Mandan, 
Gros  Ventre  of  the  Village,  Ponca,  Omaha,  Pawnee,  Cherokee,  Osage,  Pottawat- 
omi,  Crow,  Arapaho,  Sioux  Wichita  and  Navajo.  Indeed  the  Northern 
Cheyennes  say — though  of  course  they  do  not  mean  this  to  be  taken  literally — 
that  it  is  not  now  easy  to  find  in  the  tribe  a  person  who  has  not  some  mixture  of 
foreign  blood  in  his  veins. 

In  the  old  war  days  what  was  going  on  in  the  Cheyenne  tribe  was  going  on 
to  a  greater  or  less  extent  in  all  the  other  tribes ;  the  Pawnees  received  fresh 


« 


1  I 


'.'.rcn^UlnUQUfX 


GOV    I)H",(iC)  XARANGO 

SANTA    t'l.AKA     I'lKlll.O 


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FORMER  DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE   INDIANS 


7i 


blood  from  their  friends  and  allies  of  different  stock  from  them,  and  also  from 
their  enemies,  by  capture;  the  Blackfeet  did  the  same,  and  so  with  all  the  other 
tribes  and  families  wherever  they  miyht  be. 

Among  the  tribes  which  formerly  raided  into  Mexico  and  which  took  hundreds 
of  white  captives,  there  is  a  strong  infusion  of  Mexican  blood.  This  is  notably 
true  of  theComanches,  at  least  one  of  whose  chiefs  in  recent  years  was  the  son  of 
a  Mexican  mother.  White  children,  captured  when  young  and  reared  in  an 
Indian  camp,  became  as  truly  Indian  in  their  nature  as  the  purest  blooded 
savage  of  the  tribe.  An  instance  of  this  kind  came  under  my  own  observation 
in  recent  years  in  the  case  of  Blue  Hawk,  a  member  of  the  Northern  Cheyenne 
tribe.  This  man  is  a  curly-haired  Mexican,  captured  many  years  ago  by  the 
Cheyennes  during  a  raid  into  the  southwest.  Blue  Hawk,  a  boy  of  ten  years,  was 
herding  mules,  when  he  was  picked  up  by  the  war  party.  Adopted  into  the  tribe, 
he  lived  with  them  until  their  surrender  to  the  whites.  His  color  and  appearance 
showing  his  race,  government  officials  endeavored  to  learn  his  history  in  order 
to  restore  him  to  his  family.  After  some  time  they  succeeded  in  learning  where 
he  had  come  from  and  who  he  was,  and  a  brother  came  from  Mexico  to  take 
him  home.  With  much  difficulty  Blue  Hawk  was  persuaded  to  accompany  his 
brother,  but  when  he  reached  Miles  City,  Montana,  his  courage  gave  out,  he 
refused  to  go  further  and  returned  to  the  Cheyennes,  with  whom  he  still  resides. 

Such  minglings  of  blood  took  place  under  all  sorts  of  conditions.  Usually, 
perhaps,  they  were  either  between  members  of  tribes  that  were  at  peace  or 
between  victors  and  their  captives,  yet  this  was  not  always  the  case.  The 
Peace  with  the  Snakes*  is  an  example  in  which  the  general  good  feeling  led  to 
intermarriage  on  a  large  scale  between  peoples  of  two  distinct  families.  The 
story  of  Comanche  Chief.f  on  the  other  hand,  tells  how  a  young  brave  on  the 
warpath,  peeping  through  a  hole  in  a  lodge,  just  as  he  was  about  to  cut  loose  a 
horse  tied  before  it,  saw  sitting  by  the  fire  a  beautiful  girl,  with  whom  he  fell  in 
love,  and  for  whom  a  year  later  he  ventured  into  the  camp  of  his  enemy,  facing 
death  in  the  hope  that  he  might  win  her.  After  he  had  succeeded  in  doing  this, 
he  made  a  lasting  peace  between  the  Pawnees  and  their  long-time  enemies,  the 
Comanches,  and  this  led  to  frequent  intermarriages  between  the  tribes.  No 
longer  ago  than  i8q8,  a  young  Blackfoot,  visiting  the  Indian  Congress  at  the 
Omaha  Exposition,  fell  in  love  with  an  Apache  girl  there,  and  when  the 
Congress  broke  up,  went  away  with  the  Apaches,  deserting  his  tribe  and  his 
people  for  the  sake  of  the  girl  he  loved. 

*  Blackfoot  Lodge  Tales,  p.  3.    f  Pawnee  Hero  Stories  aud  Folk  Tales,  p.  25. 


1 


'  I 


rf 


CHAPTKR  VIII 


THE    RESERVATIONS 

The  Indians  of  the  United  States,  exclusive  of  Alaska,  number  262,965,  and 
are  under  the  care  of  tlie  Indian  Bureau,  which  attends  to  their  lands,  moneys, 
education  and  general  welfare.  They  are  located  on  177  reservations,  which 
are  tracts  of  land  reserved  for  their  special  use  in  23  states  and  territories, 
chiefly  west  of  the  Mississippi  River.     The  reservations  vary  in  size  from  276  to 

3,000  acres,  their  aggregate  area  being  83,784,349  acres.     Much  of  this  land  is 

ttle  value. 

Practically  no  one  in  this  country  has  any  knowledge  of  the  present 
condition  of  the  Indians  at  large.  Certain  individuals,  of  course,  possess  special 
information  of  particular  tribes,  and  can  answer  questions  about  them  with  much 
fullness  of  df  tail,  but  no  one  outside  the  Indian  Office — and  but  few  persons 
there,  without  looking  up  the  records — can  reply  satisfactorily  to  questions  as  to 
where  the  various  tribes  are  situated,  what  they  are  doing,  how  much  they  are 
contributing  toward  their  own  support,  whether  they  are  advancing,  retrograding 
or  standing  still,  what  proportion  of  their  youth  is  being  educated. 

For  the  purpose  of  supplying  such  information,  I  have  prepared  a  brief 
statement  of  the  conditions  prevailing  on  each  of  the  different  reservations,  from 
which  those  who  are  interested  may  gather  for  themselves  a  fair  idea  of  the 
situation  of  the  Indians  of  to-day.  The  facts  have  been  compiled  with  care 
and  have  been  brought  down  to  the  year  1899.  For  the  opportunity  to  secure 
this  late  information  I  have  to  thank  the  Indian  Bureau.  It  is  believed  that  this 
represents,  as  fairly  as  can  be  shown  by  any  one  individual,  the  condition  of  the 
North  American  Indian  to-day  in  his  relation  to  civilization. 

For  the  general  reader  the  most  interesting  points  to  be  gathered  from 
these  statements  are  those  which  have  to  do  with  the  advance  toward  civilization 
in  respect  to  self-support  and  the  education  of  the  rising  generation.  It  will  be 
observed  that  as  to  both  of  these  matters  there  is  the  widest  possible  variation 
in  different  tribes.  We  may  conclude  from  what  we  read  here  that  the  Indian 
has  every  capacity  for  work — for  he  possesses  strength,  endurance  and  industry. 
On  the  other  hand,  he  is  easily  discouraged,  and  hesitates  to  throw  himself  into 
unaccustomed  labor  because  he  is  doubtful  whether  the  results  will  be  commen- 
surate with  the  effort  put  forth.  If  he  can  be  convinced  that  his  exertions  will 
receive  an  adequate  recompense,  he  is — at  the  present  day — as  willing  to  work 
as  in  the  old  day  he  was  ready  to  toil  at  his  hunting  or  to  undergo  the  manifold 
hardships  of  the  warpath. 

75 


I, 


76 


THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


The  old-time  fashion  of  insisting  that  ne  should  plow  and  sow  in  the  midst 
of  the  waterless  desert  cast  a  blight  on  the  Indian's  industry,  since  it  resulted  in 
implanting  firmly  in  his  mind  the  conviction  that  for  him  work  was  useless 
because  work  in  the  white  man's  way  brought  him  no  return.  The  authorities, 
knowing  nothing  practical  about  the  Indians,  and  persuaded  by  eastern  doctrin- 
aires who  knew  as  little,  were  convinced  that  agriculture  was  the  only  pursuit  by 
which — wherever  he  might  be — tht.  Indian  could  thrive,  and  in  this  belief  they 
urged  him  to  plant,  not  knowing  whether  the  field  he  was  to  cultivate  was  on  the 
top  of  some  barren  mesa,  or  in  the  arid  regions  of  Dakota,  or  in  some  well- 
watered,  fertile  valley  in  eastern  Kaasas. 

We  are  now  engaged  in  the  slow  process  of  uprooting  the  belief  which  we 
implanted  in  the  Indian's  mind;  and  having  discovered  our  own  error  we  are 
striving  to  convince  him  that  he  must  unlearn  the  lesson  which  we  taught  him. 
Having  learned  for  ourselves  that  diverse  industries  must  be  practiced  in- 
different climates,  we  are  now  trying  again  to  change  the  Indian's  ways  and  to 
adapt  his  methods  of  self-support  to  his  surroundings. 

People  who  have  once  absorbed  a  conviction  are  slow  to  let  it  go,  and  there 
are  still  many  white  men  who  believe  that  all  Indians  everywhere  must  grow 
crops.  The  Indian  is  even  more  reluctant  than  the  white  man  to  abandon  a 
faith  once  held  and  so  in  many  cases  he  clings  to  the  belief,  which  the  white 
man's  instruction  and  practice  have  so  firmly  impressed  upon  him,  that  to  work 
is  useless  because  he  will  receive  no  compensation  for  his  labor.  We  are  paying 
now,  in  appropriations  for  the  Indian's  support,  for  our  own  blunders  in  the  past. 

What  the  Indian  requires  to-day  is  intelligent  direction  in  intelligent 
methods. 

APACHE    PRISONERS 

Near  Fort  Sill,  Oklahoma,  are  located  about  seventy  Apaches  (Athapaskan) 
held  by  the  War  Department  as  prisoners  of  war.  These  with  their  families 
number  about  300  individuals.  They  have  recently  been  under  the  charge  of 
Lieut.  F.  H.  Beach,  who  reports  about  them  to  the  War  Department 

For  some  years  they  were  in  charge  of  Capt.  H.  L.  Scott,  of  the  Seventh 
Cavalry,  who  managed  them  with  great  judgment  and  wisdom,  and  his  policy 
has  been  continued  by  Lieut.  Beach.  An  effort  has  been  made  to  teach  them 
stock  raising  and  the  effort  has  so  far  been  crowned  with  success. 

In  the  spring  of  1897,  they  had  about  900  head  of  cattle,  which  by  the 
autumn  of  1898  had  increased  to  nearly  1800.  Each  family  owns  a  few  head  of 
cows  and  their  increase  is  marked  with  the  family  brand.  The  reservation  has 
been  fenced  and  the  different  families  are  required  to  look  after  their  own  cattle. 
An  attempt  has  been  made  to  start  these  Indians  in  hog  raising,  but  it  proved  a 
failure,  largely  on  account  of  hog-cholera. 


■*•: 


KicKixi;  iiDUsi-;  cii ari.I''.v 

I  I  AT    IllAll 


)l 


r] 


II 


4 


THE   RESERVATIONS 


n 


In  the  years  1897-08,  these  Apaches  filled  a  hay  contract  for  Fort  Sill,  and 
with  the  money  received  for  this,  over  $.1,000,  purchased  a  numb«;r  of  farming 
implements,  such  as  mowing  machintis,  hay-rakes,  balers,  etc.  Recently  each 
family  has  been  settled  on  a  farm  of  10  acres,  of  which  one  acre  is  devoted  to 
garden  crops,  one  to  cotton  and  eight  to  Kaffir  corn.  Some  of  their  garden 
crops  did  wt-li,  but  in  many  cases  they  were  killed  by  drouth.  Some  corn,  how- 
ever, was  dried  and  saved  for  winter  use.  These  prisoners  of  war  arc  very 
poor  and  some  little  time  must  elapse  before  they  can  earn  sufficient  money  to 
purchase  clothing  and  other  things  which  are  absolutely  necessary  for  their 
protection.  Lieut.  Beach  recommends  that  the  Quartermaster  at  I-'ort  Sill  be 
allowed  to  issue  them  such  clothing  as  the  officer  who  has  them  in  charge  thinks 
necessary. 

The  health  of  these  people  is  improving,  and  it  is  reported  that  the 
year  from  January,  1897,  to  January,  1898.  was  the  first  for  many  in  which  the 
births  exceeded  the  deaths.  The  people  are  industrious  and  are  anxious  to  be 
independent  and  self-supporting.  They  have  also  become  provident  and  are 
disposed  to  look  ahead.  They  require  repair  shops  and  schools.  A  few  of  the 
children  attend  the  Mission  school  of  St.  Patrick's  at  Anadarko. 


BLACKFEET   AGENCY 

The  Blackfeet  (Alponquian)  Reservation  is  located  in  northwestern  Montana, 
on  the  eastern  flank  01  ihc  Rocky  Mountains,  its  northern  boundary  being  the 
parallel  of  49°.  The  last  census  shows  the  number  of  Indians  here  to  be  1,957, 
most  of  whom  are  Piegans,  but  there  are  a  few  northern  Blackfeet  and  Bloods 
living  here  with  them.  There  are  on  this  reservation  an  unusual  number  of 
mixed  bloods,  who  have  returned  to  the  tribe  to  share  the  prosperity  which  has 
come  to  it  in  recent  years. 

The  location  of  this  agency  being  high,  dry  and  cold,  farming  has  proved 
entirely  unprofitable,  for  it  is  only  in  exceptional  years  that  a  crop  matures. 
The  chief  industry  of  these  Indians  must  be  stock  raising,  their  reservation 
being  admirably  adapted  to  that  pursuit.  Beginning  in  the  year  1890  with  an 
issue  of  about  800  cows,  their  stock  increased  so  that  in  the  year  1897  they  had 
about  22,oco  head.  Bad  management  by  their  agents  and  one  or  two  unusually 
severe  winters  reduced  their  herds  nearly  one-half,  but  they  still  have  enough 
cattle  to  make  them  independent  in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  provided  only 
they  shall  receive  intelligent  guidance  by  their  agents.  They  still  suffer  con- 
siderable losses  each  year  through  the  trespassing  of  range  stock  belonging  to 
adjacent  white  cattlemen,  the  herds  of  the  Indians  getting  mixed  with  the  range 
cattle  and  wandering  or  being  driven  away  and  never  recovered. 


il 


78 


THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


'II  ^i 


n  * ;  ■ 


vt 


In  chc  year  1805  they  made  anew  treaty,  by  which  they  sold  a  portion  of 
theiv  reservation  for  $1,500,000,  distributed  over  ten  years  in  equal  annual 
payments,  so  that  with  what  they  now  possess  and  with  what  they  are  to  receive, 
they  should  be  entirely  splf-supportin^j  before  the  expiration  of  this  treaty. 

Like  many  other  tribes,  the  Hlackfeet  suffer  from  lack  of  school  accommo- 
dation. The  single  boardinjf  school  on  the  reservation  accommodates  about  125 
pupils  and  tlic  Holy  I'aniily  Mission  provides  for  72,  but  the  children  of  school 
age  number  al)c)ut  425.    A  new  ind  lar>;er  school  plant  is  promised. 

As  is  the  case  with  so  many  other  Indian  tribes,  the  health  of  the  Blackfeet 
is  unsatisfactory.  Contagious  diseases,  such  as  measles  and  scarlet  fever,  very 
often  prove  fatal  when  they  attack  them,  and  they  seem  to  have  little  power  of 
resisting  pneumonia  and  other  luiijx  troubles.  This  is  due  in  part  to  the  fact  that 
it  is  exceetlingly  difficult  to  make  thv  Indians  take  proper  care  of  the  sick. 
Many  of  the  children  are  afflicted  with  tuberculosis  in  one  form  ci  .mother,  and 
this  it  is  almost  impossible  to  cure. 

CHEYENNE  AND  ARAPAHO  AGENCY 

Practically  all  the  Southern  Cheyennes,  about  2,000,  and  more  than  1,000  of 
the  Arapahos  (Algonquian)are  located  at  the  old  Cheyenne  and  Arapaho  agency 
in  Oklahoma. 

In  the  year  1890,  these  Indians  were  forced  by  Congress  to  take  their  land 
in  severalty,  at  a  time  when  they  were  entirely  unfitted  to  become  citizens  of  the 
United  .States,  being  then  what  were  called  "blanket  Indians."  The  methods 
employed  by  the  commissioners  sent  out  to  treat  with  the  Indians  for  their  land 
have  been  more  than  once  described,  and  the  shameful  means  used  to  oblige 
them  to  give  up  their  reservation  cannot  be  too  strongly  condemned.  Their 
lands  were  taken  in  1891  and  the  reservation  opened  to  settlement  by  the  whites. 
Since  that  time  they  have  made  marked  progress,  an  advance  which  is  less 
noticeable  from  year  to  year  than  it  is  when  we  look  back  and  see  the  change 
that  has  taken  place  in  the  whole  time.  They  have  taken  to  farming,  which  they 
practice  with  fair  success,  and  now  raise  considerable  wheat  and  oats  and  very 
large  crops  of  corn,  besides  vegetables  and  hay.  They  have  a  very  few  cattle, 
but  as  yet  have  hardly  made  a  start  in  the  stock  business. 

At  and  near  Darlington  are  two  large  boarding  schools.  There  is  another 
boarding  school  at  Red  Moon,  80  miles  distant,  another  at  Seger  Colony,  which 
accommodates  125  pupils,  and  still  another  has  recently  been  completed  at 
Cantonment,  70  miles  from  the  Agency.  There  is  also  one  day  school  and  a 
Mission  boarding  school,  the  latter  with  68  pupils.  The  aggregate  attendance 
for  1899  was  580.  With  opportunities  given  at  non-reservation  schoc'.s  the  entire 
school  population  may  be  considered  as  provided  for. 


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THE   RESERVATIONS 


79 


A  number  of  the  Indians  are  building  good  dwelling  houses  for  themselves: 
others  are  purchasing  from  their  own  means  farming  implements.  On  the  whole 
the  progress  since  they  took  their  lands  in  severalty  is  gratifying.  An  interesting 
fact  to  be  noted  about  these  Indians  is  a  marked  absence  of  drunkenness  among 
them.  They  are  surrounded  by  whites  and  have  every  opportunity  to  procure 
liquor,  yet  they  appear  to  use  it  little. 


CHEYENNE  RIVER  AGENCY 

This  Agency  is  situated  in  South  Dakota,  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Missouri 
River,  opposite  Forest  City,  South  Dakota,  and  immediately  south  of  Standing 
Rock  Agency.  It  is  one  of  the  large  Sioux  Agencies  of  the  State,  and  here  are 
located  the  Blackfeet,  Sans  Arc,  Minneconjou,  and  Two  Kettle  bands  of  Sioux, 
in  all  2,552  Indians.  On  this  reservation  efforts  have  been  made  in  the  past  to 
raise  crops,  but  these  have  been  almost  wholly  unsuccessful,  for  the  very 
sufficient  reason  that  the  land  is  not  in  any  respect  adapted  to  agriculture,  the 
rainfall  is  very  slight  and  never  to  be  depended  on  and  the  opportunities  for 
irrigation  are  not  great. 

It  is,  however,  a  good  stock  country,  and  these  Indians  are  well  provided 
with  cattle,  owning  more  than  15,000  head.  They  take  very  good  care  of  these 
and  put  up  thousands  of  tons  of  hay.  Many  of  them,  especially  among  the  mixed 
bloods,  have  considerable  bunches  of  cattle,  and  all  that  is  necessary  to  make 
this  industry  successful  here  is  to  see  that  the  Indians  take  proper  care  of 
their  herds.  If  sufficient  attention  is  paid  to  this,  there  is  no  reason  why  they 
may  not  in  time  become  self-supporting,  through  this  means  alone.  For  half 
their  subsistence  they  now  depend  on  government  rations.  Efforts  are  being 
made  to  induce  them  to  take  their  lands  in  severalty,  but  it  may  be  hoped 
that  these  attempts  will  not  be  successful.  While  it  would  be  well  that  each 
family  should  have  its  own  location,  they  need  this  whole  reservation  as  a  range 
for  their  cattle,  and  should  be  allowed  to  occupy  it,  until  they  are  better  able  to 
care  for  their  rights  than  they  are  at  present. 

There  are  708  children  of  school  age  here,  and  only  a  single  boarding 
school,  which  has  an  average  attendance  of  iig.  In  addition  to  this,  there  are 
three  day  schools,  with  59  pupils,  and  there  are  three  mission  schools  in  the 
neighborhood,  which  obtain  their  75  children  from  this  reservation.  More 
schools  are  clearly  needed. 


I' 


COLORADO   RIVER   AGENCY 

The  Colorado  River  reservation  comprises  about  240,000  acres  of  land  lying 
on  both  sides  the  Colorado  River,  and  thus  partly  in  Arizona  and  partly  in 
California.     It  is  located  chiefly  on  the  bottom  lands  of  the  Colorado  River,  and 


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80 


THl-    INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


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is  surrounded  by  the  absolutely  waterless  desert.  It  is  occupied  by  about  700 
Mojaves  (Yuman)  and  150  Chimehuevi  (Shoshonean).  The  land  of  the  bottom 
for  the  most  part  is  fertile,  and  there  is  plenty  of  water  in  the  river.  But 
although  the  valley  is  but  ten  feet  above  the  ordinary  water  level  of  the  river, 
irrigation  has  been  very  difficult  and  expensive,  and,  for  the  most  part, 
ineffective.  Small  strips  of  territory  alon^;;  the  river  and  lagoons  are  sometimes 
overflowed  in  times  of  high  water,  so  that  on  two  or  three  hundred  acres 
overflow  crops  can  be  raised.  Sometimes,  however,  the  river  does  not  rise  high 
enough  to  yield  water,  and  in  other  seasons  the  overflow  is  so  great  as  to  wash 
away  the  seed  of  the  growing  crops.  The  average  rainfall  of  the  region  is  less 
than  five  inches.  For  twenty-five  years,  money  and  labor  have  been  expended 
on  irrigation  with  only  meager  or  temporary  results.  Ditches  have  been  made 
which  have  filled  up  with  silt;  pumps  have  broken  down  or  worn  out.  Last 
spring,  however,  a  steam  engine  and  centrifugal  pump  which  furnishes  5,000 
gallons  per  minute  was  put  in  operation  and  gave  abundant  water  to  350  acres  ; 
2CO  acres  more  will  soon  be  put  under  ditch.  The  crops  raised  are  wheat  and 
corn,  with  melons,  pumpkins  and  sorghum. 

There  should  be  nearly  2,000  Mojaves  on  this  reservation.  Of  thpsc,  700 
are  located  near  the  agency  at  Parker,  while  the  remainder  live  off  the 
reservation  in  the  vicinity  of  Needles,  California,  and  Fort  Mojave,  Arizona. 
About  forty  miles  above  the  agency  is  the  settlement  of  150  Chimehuevi,  a  branch 
of  the  Piutes. 

The  Mojaves  are  reported  to  be  fairly  industrious,  and  willing  to  work  at 
hard  manual  labor  to  support  themselves.  They  are  quiet  and  peaceable,  and 
remarkable  for  their  industry.  As  against  this,  they  are  improvident,  tenacious 
in  holding  to  their  old  beliefs,  and  slow  to  receive  new  ideas.  This  is  said  of  the 
Indians  living  about  the  agency.  On  the  other  hand,  those  living  near  the 
railroad  towns  are  reported  to  be  in  a  deplorable  condition  as  to  morals  and 
progress.  They  are  so  far  from  the  agency  that  the  agent  has  practically  no 
influence  over  them,  while  their  nearness  to  the  towns  leads  to  drunkenness  and 
other  vices.  A  considerable  number  are  employed  by  the  Santa  Fe  Railroad, 
and  are  believed  to  receive  nearly  $60,000  per  annum  in  wages.  Yet  they  save 
none  of  this,  and  their  material  condition  is  steadily  growing  worse.  On  the 
other  hand,  a  large  proportion  of  those  on  the  reservation  occupy  fair  adobe 
houses.  They  have  ceased  to  paint  their  faces,  wear  civilized  clothing  in  part, 
and  have  given  up  most  of  their  old  barbaric  practices,  although  they  still  burn 
their  dead,  but  usually  under  police  supervision.  There  is  no  drunkenness  on 
the  reservation,  and  many  of  the  males  have  cut  their  hair. 

The  distance  of  the  agency  from  the  railroad,  while  it  makes  the  matter  of 
getting  supplies  one  of  great  difficulty,  is  yet  obviously  for  the  advantage  of  that 


700 
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THE   RESERVATIONS 


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portion  of  the  Indians  living  there,  as  it  keeps  them  apart  from  the  white  people, 
ind  they  are  not  expostid  to  the  temptations  which  association  with  civilization 
invariably  offers.  During  the  year  ending  June  30th,  1898,  only  one  crime  had 
occurred  on  the  reservation. 

There  is  no  white  trader  on  this  reservation,  but  five  full-blood  Indians  keep 
small  stores,  bringing  in  their  goods  from  the  railroad  in  row-boats  several  times 
a  year. 

The  Chimehuevi,  of  Shoshonean  stock,  are  progressive  Indians,  having  laid 
aside  most  of  their  old-time  customs,  and  cut  their  hair,  and  are  wearing  civilized 
clothing.  They  receive  no  aid  from  the  Government,  except  that  from  time  to 
time  they  visit  the  agency  for  medical  attendance. 

There  is  a  boarding  school  at  this  agency  with  a  capacity  of  100  children, 
while  the  average  at  ;endance  is  97. 

COLVILLE   AGENCY 

The  Colville  and  Spokane  reservations  are  in  northeastern  Washington, 
and  under  the  same  agent  are  the  Coeur  d'Alenes,  whose  reservation  is  in  Idaho. 
The  tribes  belonging  to  this  agency  are  the  Cceur  d'Alene,  481,  and  Upper  and 
Middle  Spokane,  145,  on  Cceur  d'Alene  reservation;  Upper  and  Middle  Spokane, 
on  the  Spokane  reservation,  i8o;  Columbia  (Moses  Band),  311;  Nez  Perc^ 
(Joseph's  Band),  127;  Lake,  292;  Nespilem  and  Sans  Foil,  400;  Kalispel, 
150;  Colville,  303 ;  Lower  Spokane,  370;  Okanagan,  573,  on  Colville  reserva- 
tion— a  total  of  3,351.    All  these  are  Salishan  tribes. 

The  area  of  the  Colville  reservation  is  considerable,  2,800,000  acres,  and  on 
it  there  is  a  good  deal  of  agricultural  land.  At  the  same  time  there  is  much 
land  that  can  never  be  farmed,  including  valuable  mineral  lands  which  have 
been  thrown  open  to  mineral  entry.  Allotments  upon  the  north  half  of  the 
Colville  reservation  are  in  progress.  The  Cojur  d'Alenes,  upon  the  Coeur 
d'Alene  reservation,  are  quite  active  in  the  cultivation  of  their  lands.  They 
possess  1,000  head  of  cattle,  and  raised,  in  1899,  1 15,000  bushels  of  wheat,  and 
over  120,000  bushels  of  oats.  By  purchasing  with  their  own  money,  they  have 
supplied  themselves  with  all  necessary  farming  implements.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  Spokanes  on  the  Spokane  reservation  are  accomplishing  little  or  nothing. 
They  have  suffered  lately  from  crop  failures,  and  are  much  discouraged  and 
very  poor. 

The  Nespilem  and  San  Foil  tribes  occupy  the  south  half  of  the  Colville 
reservation,  are  industrious,  self-supporting,  and  often  well-to-do.  They  have 
good  farms,  some  few  cattle,  fine  horses  and  comfortable  homes.  The  Colville 
and  Lake  Indians  are  also  industrious  and  thrifty.  They  have  fine  farms  and 
raise  good  crops.    They  are  self-supporting. 


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THE  INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


The  Okanajjan  Indians  are  largely  stock  raisers,  and  most  of  them  have 
small  bands  of  cattle.  They  cut  hay  to  winter  their  stock,  have  small  farms,  and 
raise  ^jardcn  vejietables. 

Tile  Nez  Percys,  of  Joseph's  Band,  are  reported  not  to  be  working  and  to 
be  making  no  progress  whatever.  They  still  wear  their  blankets  and  eat 
Government  rations,  the  only  tribe  under  the  Colville  agency  which  does  so. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Columbias  are  thrifty  and  encTgetic  people,  in  many 
places  farmers,  in  others  lumberers  and  loggers,  hay-makers,  and,  at  the  proper 
season  of  the  year,  hop-pickers  for  the  white  people.  They  are  distinctly 
interested  in  their  own  improvement,  are  building  themselves  better  houses,  are 
getting  rid  of  their  ponies  and  trying  to  obtain  cattle.  On  the  whole,  these 
people  are  distinctively  progressive.  With  them  are  some  Yakimas  and 
Snakes. 

There  is  one  contract  Catholic  school  on  each  of  the  Colville  and  Cccur 
d'Alene  reservations,  and  at  each  the  attendance  of  the  children  is  greater  than 
the  contract  calls  for.  There  are  also  two  day  schools,  one  on  the  Colville  and 
one  on  the  Spokane  reservation,  and  the  training  school  near  Salem,  Oregon, 
takes  a  good  many  children  from  these  tribes,  but  it  is  obvious  that  there  are 
not  sufficient  educational  facilities  for  the  number  of  children  found  here  (700), 
scattered  out  as  they  are  over  a  wide  territory. 

CROW   AGENCY 

The  Crow  reservation  is  situated  in  Montana,  south  of  the  Yellowstone 
River,  and  the  agency  is  on  the  Little  Big  Horn.  There  are  1,962  of  the  Crows 
(Siouan). 

These  Indians  have  been  badly  handled  in  the  past  and  are  rapidly  decreas- 
ing in  numbers.  While  they  are  a  tall,  well-built  people,  physically  the  equal  of 
almost  any  tribe,  their  condition  of  health  is  exceedingly  bad  and  they  are 
rapidly  dying  off.  It  is  said,  however,  that  the  health  of  the  children  is  better 
than  that  of  the  adults. 

The  Crows  are  making  some  progress  in  agriculture.  The  report  of  the 
Commissioner  of  Indian  affairs  for  1898  stated  that  they  raised  25,000  bushels  of 
wheat  and  35,000  bushels  of  oats,  besides  garden  products,  and  that  they  supplied 
to  the  neighboring  army  post.  Fort  Custer,  about  1,000,000  pounds  of  oats  and 
1,200  tons  of  hay.  The  fact  that  this  post  has  recently  been  abandoned  cuts  off 
the  Indians  from  their  only  market  and  must  make  a  very  material  reduction  in 
their  income.  During  the  past  year  there  has  been  some  falling  off  in  the  oat 
crop,  but  their  hay  crop  has  been  increased. 

Farming  on  the  Crow  reservation  has  been  practiced  on  the  communal 
system,  a  number  of  Indians  farming  a  large  tract  in  common,  under  the  super- 


[ii    K 


THE  RESERVATIONS 


83 


vision  of  a  white  farmer.  The  product  of  this  larye  tract  is  then  divided  among 
the  Indians.  Such  a  system  is  wholly  bad,  since  it  takes  away  from  each  man 
his  sense  of  responsibility  and  leads  him  to  endeavor  to  jjet  along  with  as  little 
effort  as  possible,  trusting  that  his  fellows  will  do  their  share  of  the  work,  even  if 
he  shirks  his  part.  These  large  tracts  should  be  broken  up  and  each  man  should 
cultivate  his  own  farm  and  should  have  for  himself  whatever  it  may  produce. 
He  will  thus  learn  to  depend  on  his  own  efforts.  Only  in  this  way,  can  the 
Indian  be  taught  that  there  is  a  reward  for  labor. 

An  extensive,  substantial  irrigation  system  has  been  begun  upon  the  Crow 
reserve,  to  cost  over  $300,000  and  to  cover  45,000  acres,  to  be  paid  for  out  of  the 
Crow  funds.  The  tribe  has  recently  voted  to  pay  $100,000  out  of  their  grazing 
money  for  its  completion.  No  small  part  of  the  money  goes  back  to  them  in 
payment  for  work  on  the  ditches,  in  which  they  have  been  remarkably  inter- 
ested and  skillful.    About  twelve  miles  of  canal  have  been  finished. 

The  Crows  have  long  had  cattle,  and  if  these  had  been  properly  cared  for, 
their  herds  should  now  be  very  large.  The  same  mistake  has  been  made 
with  regard  to  the  cattle  as  with  the  farms.  The  live  stock  has  been  held  as  a 
communal  herd  and  has  belonged  to  the  tribe,  being  managed  by  the  agent  and 
his  employees,  the  beef  being  sold  and  the  proceeds  divided  among  the  Indians. 
The  result  of  this  course  has  been  that  no  Indian  took  any  special  interest  in  the 
cattle  nor  in  seeing  that  they  were  properly  looked  after,  and  the  herds  have  been 
shamefully  neglected.  Moreover  the  wolves  have  been  very  troublesome  in  this 
part  of  Montana  and  no  doubt  have  done  their  share  towards  keeping  down  the 
increase.    The  range  is  injured  by  the  thousands  of  prized  but  worthless  ponies. 

The  Crows,  having  always  been  friendly  to  the  whites  and  having  had  a  large 
reservation  from  the  beginning,  have  always  had  land  to  sell  and  so  have  had  large 
funds  to  their  credit  with  the  Government.  Their  reservation  is  still  large,  and 
with  proper  management,  they  might  easily  become  self-supporting.  Already 
the  issue  of  Government  rations  has  nearly  ceased. 

The  school  at  the  Crow  Agency  is  well  attended.  The  number  of  children 
of  school  age  is  389,  of  whom  138  have  attended  the  Government  school  at  the 
Agency,  and  80  the  Catholic  Mission  school.  The  Crow  children  are  docile, 
attend  school  without  much  urging  and  seem  willing  to  learn.  It  is  greatly  to  be 
desired  that  a  school  should  be  established  at  Pryor's  Creek,  where  about  500 
people  reside,  whose  children  have  now  no  opportunity  to  attend  school  near 
their  homes. 

CROW  CREEK   AGENCY 

The  Crow  Creek  reservation,  which  is  in  South  Dakota  on  the  eastern  bank 
of  the  Missouri  River,  not  far  from  the  town  of  Chamberlain,  is  occupied  by 
1,047  Lower  Ynnktonnai  Sioux,  who  have  received  allotments  and  continue  to 


laaitiiiarr.-.taraa 


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III 


-> 


fit 


84 


THK   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


receive  half  rations.  These  Indians  are  no  more  successful  in  farming  in  this 
country  than  have  been  their  relations  above  and  below  them  on  the  Missouri 
River  and  they  have  practically  no  cattle.  Their  reservation  is  a  ^r-izing  country; 
it  is  not  one  adapted  to  aKricuiture,  and  until  they  have  cattle,  they  can  only 
meet  with  discourat^einent  and  failure.  On  the  other  hand  they  can  and  do  cut 
abundant  hay  on  their  reservation  and  are  willin);  to  work  if  there  is  a  promise 
of  reward.  In  i8qS,  and  again  in  1899,  their  agent  advised  the  purchase  for  the 
tribe  of  1,000  young  cows,  and  this  should  certainly  be  done.  He  recommends, 
however,  that  the  cows  be  held  for  some  yttarswith  their  increase  as  the  common 
property  of  the  tribe.  This  would  only  mean  the  holding  back  of  the  Indians 
for  just  so  many  years.  It  would  be  much  better  to  divide  the  cows  up  among 
the  families  and  give  them  the  animals  for  their  own,  but  not  permitting  them  to 
kill  or  sell  them,  and  thus  to  throw  upon  them  the  responsibility  of  the  success 
or  failure  of  the  herd.    They  have  been  induced  to  sell  500  horses. 

There  are  three  schools  on  this  reservation;  two  Government  boarding 
schools  with  an  average  attendance  of  167,  and  the  Immaculate  Conception 
Catholic  school,  which,  although  it  no  longer  receives  aid  from  the  Government, 
except  the  rations  and  clothing  for  the  pupils,  takes  in  the  children  and  does 
excellent  work. 

The  births  for  the  last  year  on  this  reservation  were  39,  while  the  deaths 
were  50.  Of  these  50  per  cent,  were  from  tuberculosis  in  one  form  or  another. 
There  was  an  epidemic  of  measles. 

DEVILS    LAKE   AGENCY 

The  Devil's  Lake  Agency,  which  has  its  headquarters  at  Port  Totten,  North 
Dakota,  comprises  the  Devil's  Lake  reservation,  where  there  are  1,043  Sioux, 
and  the  Turtle  Mountain  sub-agency,  occupied  by  266  full-blood  Chippewas 
(Algonquians),  and  more  than  2,000  mixed  bloods.  The  agency  is  situated  on 
Devil's  Lake.  The  reservation  contains  about  166,000  acres  of  high  rolling  land, 
well  adapted  to  farming.  More  than  half  of  the  lands  here  have  been  allotted  in 
severalty  to  the  Sioux,  who  occupy  about  300  fairly  good  houses.  Nearly  4,000 
acres  are  cultivated,  and,  in  good  years,  with  success;  in  1898  only  9,000  bushels 
of  wheat,  6,000  bushels  of  corn,  29,000  bushels  of  oats  were  harvested,  together 
with  barley,  Hax,  potatoes  and  other  vegetables.  The  Indians  have  about  1,000 
head  of  horses,  but  very  few  cattle.  It  is  very  desirable  that  these  industrious 
and  hard-working  people  should  have  some  cattle  given  to  them. 

An  industrial  school  occupies  the  buildings  of  the  abandoned  military  post 
of  Fort  Totten,  with  a  branch  school  in  buildings  at  agency  headquarters. 
The  two  departments  under  one  head  have  an  attendance  of  273  pupils,  most  of 
them  Turtle  Mountain  Chippewas. 


Mi  i 


ANTOINE 

SPOKANE 


il 


THE  RESKRVATiONS 


85 


The  siib-aKcncy  at  Turtle  Mountain,  which  is  under  the  charge  of  a  farmer, 
contains  more  than  4f),ooo  acres  of  land,  some  of  it  timb«;r.  sonic  yinuinn,  some 
farming  country.  It  is  quite  fully  occupied,  for  besides  the  266  full-blood 
Indians,  there  are  2,000  mixed  bloods  claimintf  rights  on  the  reservation. 
Practically  all  the  full-bloods  and  many  mixed  bloods  reside  c.f  the  reservation, 
but  in  its  vicinity,  wh«-re  the  latter  have  takrn  homesteads ;  but  the  former  have 
squatted,  some  of  them  on  land  owned  by  white  men. 

This  is  a  farming;  country,  yet  for  two  years  the  crops  have  been  almost  a 
total  failure,  owin^  to  the  lack  of  moisture.  The  season  of  iSqq  promised  a  good 
yield  of  grain  and  vegetables  from  the  7,000  acres  cultivated.  It  is  a  very 
difil'icult  matter  for  these  Indians  to  get  along  when  the  crops  fail.  There  are  so 
few  people  in  the  country  that  there  is  no  demand  for  labor.  The  timber  on  the 
reservation  has  been  very  largely  cut  down.  Game  and  fish  have  long  since 
disappeared.  In  1892  these  Indians  made  an  agreement  with  the  Government, 
which  Congress  never  carried  out. 

There  are  three  Government  day  schools  on  this  reservation,  and  one 
contract  boarding  school,  in  charge  of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy.  The  total  capacity 
of  these  schools  is  315,  while  the  school  population  of  the  Turtle  Mountain 
Chippewas  is  738.    The  average  attendance  at  the  schools  is  205. 


DIOOER    INDIANS 

For  the  benefit  of  a  number  of  wandering  families — the  so-called  Digger 
Indians,  whose  family  stock  is  uncertain — there  was  recently  purchased  by  the 
Government  320  acres  of  land  near  Jackson,  in  Amador  County,  California. 
The  reservation  is  dry,  but  crops  might  be  raised  if  water  could  be  supplied. 
The  population  is  given  in  the  report  of  the  farmer  for  iSgg  as  only  twenty-four, 
but  there  are  a  good  many  families  living  off  the  reservation,  who  occasionally 
visit  it,  but  decline  to  make  it  their  permanent  home.  A  little  hay  and  some 
vegetables  are  raised  here,  but,  on  the  whole,  the  people  are  poor  and  worthless. 
No  doubt  if  the  greater  number  of  the  Indians  in  the  neighborhood  could  be 
gathered  on  this  reservation  and  water  could  be  put  on  it.  they  would  be  able  to 
grow  some  crops,  but  they  are  strongly  attached  to  their  old  village  sites  and 
camping  grounds. 

EASTERN   CHEROKEE   AGENCY 

The  Eastern  Cherokees,  of  Iroquoian  stock,  still  hold  a  part  of  their  ancient 
territory,  amounting  to  about  ico,ooo  acres,  in  Swain,  Graham  and  Cherokee 
Counties,  in  western  North  Carolina,  adjoining  Tennessee.  They  number  1,363, 
and  are  situated  on  a  number  of  small  farms,  for  the  country  is  mountainous, 
and  there  is  but  little  arable  land.    They  raise  corn,  beans,  potatoes  and  some 


86 


THE  INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


if  l 


I  I 


wheat,  and  have  some  live  stock.  They  are  industrious  and  practically  self- 
supportiny,  but  live  in  a  very  simple  manner,  and  practice  the  methods  of  their 
forefathers. 

The  Cherokees  Vwv.  in  single-room  log  houses,  and  cam  but  little  money  ; 
practically  all  that  they  do  is  to  raise  enough  food  for  their  support  from  year  to 
year.  Some  of  the  young  men  and  women,  however,  who  have  been  sent  away 
from  the  reservation  to  Carlisle  and  Hampton,  have  earned  money  and  sent  it 
home,  and,  on  their  return  to  the  tribe,  have  done  much  to  stimulate  the 
ambition  of  the  people. 

There  are  393  children  of  school  age,  and  the  attendance  at  the  Cherokee 
training  school  for  the  ten  months  of  the  year  was  169.  These  people  have  done 
little  more  than  to  become  self-supporting.  They  live  in  seven  settlements  or 
villages,  and  do  not  appear  to  have  much  ambition. 

The  Eastern  Cherokee  Agency  has  recently  been  abolished.  The  Indians 
are  now  in  charge  of  a  school  superintendent. 

FLATHEAD   AGENCY 

The  Flathead  reservation  lies  chiefly  in  the  Flathead  Valley,  in  western 
Montana,  on  both  sides  of  the  Flathead  Lake,  and  to  the  southward.  It  is 
occupied  by  several  tribes,  known  as  Flatheads,  Fend  d'Oreilles,  Spokanes, 
Lower  Kalispels  (all  Salishan),  and  Kutenais  (Kitunahan),  the  total  population 
being  about  2,oco.  Of  these,  tl  ^latheads  are  much  the  most  numerous.  There 
are  about  400  Kutenais,  less  ti.an  100  Spokanes,  and  about  50  of  the  Lower 
Kalispels.  Among  these  people  there  are  all  degrees  of  progress.  Many  of  the 
Kutenais  still  support  themselves  by  hunting  and  fishing,  and  by  the  wild  roots 
and  fruits  which  they  gather  in  their  seasons.  On  the  other  hand,  many  of  the 
Flatheads  are  well-to-do,  possessing  good  herds  of  cattle  and  horses,  fenced 
farms,  fairly  good  houses,  and  raising  crops  of  grain  and  hay,  good  gardens,  and 
perhaps  a  little  fruit.  The  last  report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs 
gives  the  crops  raised  on  this  reservation  as  38,650  bushels  of  wheat,  33,268 
bushels  of  oats,  12,000  bushels  of  vegetables,  8,500  tons  of  hay,  and  says  that 
10,000  head  of  cattle  are  owned  by  the  Indians.  Of  these,  the  greater  number 
are  in  the  hands  of  a  few  people,  most  of  whom  have  white  blood  in  their  veins. 
While  no  allotments  of  land  have  been  made  on  this  reservation,  many  of  the 
Indians  have  taken  up  farms  and  have  located  themselves  permanently,  although 
their  title  is  one  of  occupancy  only. 

The  reservation  being  very  large  and  the  Indians  scattered  over  it  living 
in  different  places,  those  situated  furthest  from  the  agency  receive  no  assistance 
from  the  Government,  since  it  is  not  worth  while  for  them  to  make  long  journeys 
on  the  chance  of  receiving  some  trifling  help  on  issue  day.    The  condition  of  the 


Hi 


Till'.  MAN 

ASSINStBOINE 


I 

i  ;                     ■ 

:  1       i 

Mi 


;~  \ 


THE   RESERVATIONS 


87 


Kutenais,  living  on  the  west  side  of  Flathead  Lake,  is  most  miserable.  They  are 
in  a  starving  condition,  and  can  never  hope  to  make  any  progress  until  some 
steps  shall  be  taken  to  start  them  on  the  road  towards  improvement. 

School  facilities  on  the  Flathead  reservation  are  unusually  bad.  There  are 
450  children  of  school  age,  but  there  is  no  agency  boarding  school,  and  but  one 
small  government  day  school,  and  Congress  has  cut  down  the  government 
assistance  to  the  Catholic  Mission,  which  has  been  followed  by  a  reduction  in 
attendance  from  over  300  to  200.  Hut  the  training  school  at  Fort  Shaw,  Montana 
takes  300  pupils  from  the  various  Montana  agencies,  thus  supplying  some  small 
part  of  the  reservation  deficiencies. 

The  same  trouble  is  found  here  that  occurs  in  so  many  Indian  reservations  ; 
the  people  cling  to  their  horses  as  they  did  in  the  old  times  when  they  were 
constantly  journeying  from  place  to  place,  hunting  the  buffalo  and  going 
to  war.  Thus  their  herds  of  horses  are  increasing  in  numbers,  but  are  growing 
less  and  less  valuable.  It  would  be  greatly  to  the  advantage  of  these  and  other 
Indians  if  they  could  sell  off  their  horses,  even  if  they  receive  for  them  no  more 
than  $1.00  a  head,  and  put  the  money  into  cattle.  Horses  are  constantly 
decreasing  in  price,  while  cattle  are  becoming  worth  more  and  more  money 
every  day. 

Adjoining  counties  are  undertaking  to  tax  the  mixed-blood  residents  of  the 
reservation,  and  have  seized  their  stock  to  pay  the  taxes.  At  the  same  time,  the 
counties  do  nothing  for  schools,  roads,  etc.,  on  the  reservation.  The  matter  is 
now  before  the  United  States  Court. 


FORT  APACHE  AGENCY 

The  White  Mountain  Apaches,  with  a  few  Chiracahua  Apaches  (Athapaskan), 
are  located  at  the  Fort  Apache  agency,  in  Arizona.  The  northern  part  of  the 
White  Mountain  reservation  was  separated  in  1897  from  the  San  Carlos  agency, 
and  put  under  a  new  agency. 

The  census  of  iSgg  shows  1,849  of  these  Indians,  a  slight  increase  during  the 
two  previous  years. 

A  number  of  small  streams  flow  through  narrow  valleys,  and  along  these  the 
people  are  settled.  The  soil  is  fertile,  and  under  proper  irrigation  good  crops 
might  be  grown.  No  funds  being  provided,  however,  the  irrigation  plant  here 
is  very  unsatisfactory,  and  by  no  means  the  most  is  made  of  the  opportunities  at 
hand. 

These  Indians  are  poor,  receiving  little  in  the  way  of  subsistence  from  the 
government,  and  for  the  rest  being  almost  entirely  dependent  on  their  own 
exertions.  The  agency  and  the  neighboring  military  post  furnish  their  only 
market,  and  by  supplying  hay,  grain  and  wood  to  the  War  Department  and  to 


w 


88 


THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


1  I' 


|i   / 


the  Indian  Department,  they  earned,  during  the  fiscal  year  of  1898-99,  over 
twenty-four  thousand  dollars.  They  raise  more  grain  than  ii  required  by  the 
Government,  having  under  cultivation  something  over  twelve  hundred  acres  of 
land,  most  of  which  has  water  on  it.  It  is  believed  that  wheat  may  be  grown 
without  irrigation  on  the  uplands  of  this  reservation;  and  if  this  could  be  done, 
the  problem  of  self-support  would  be  rendered  much  simpler  for  them,  since  they 
have  a  grist  mill.  Their  reservation  is  also  a  good  stock  country,  and  an  effort 
should  be  made  to  give  them  a  start  in  cattle  raising.  If  they  can  be  taught  to 
take  proper  care  of  the  few  cattle  they  possess — about  850 — and  an  effort  be 
made  to  put  water  on  more  of  their  land,  they  might  do  well. 

Like  all  the  Apaches,  they  are  energetic  and  industrious,  eager  to  work, 
provided  only  there  is  a  promise  of  reward  for  labor.  As  so  often  happens 
among  those  tribes  which  are  struggling  toward  self-support,  it  is  necessary  to 
divide  up  the  work  in  some  degree,  in  order  that  each  individual  or  family  may 
have  an  opportunity  to  earn  something.  In  letting  out  his  contracts  for  wood 
and  hay,  the  agent  is  obliged  to  limit  the  quantity  that  he  will  receive  from  each 
one,  or  else  some  would  far  exceed  their  allowance,  while  from  others  it  would 
be  impossible  to  receive  anything.  The  women  take  their  burros  far  up  the 
sides  of  the  mountains,  cut  hay  there  with  a  knife,  load  it  on  the  backs  of  the 
animals,  and  sometimes  carry  it  twenty  miles  to  a  market.  And  this  work  they 
do  on  a  diei  of  pinon  nuts,  and  a  fragment  of  the  roasted  heart  of  the  mescal. 
With  proper  encouragement,  and  a  little  start,  these  Indians  could  readily 
become  self-supporting. 

They  suffer  from  the  usual  discouragements  brought  to  them  by  white 
association.  Whisky  is  brought  on  the  reservation  by  white  people,  and  it  is 
difficult  to  catch  the  offenders.  Besides  this,  the  Indians  distill  from  corn  an 
alcoholic  drink  known  as  tiswin,  but  the  manufacture  of  this  has  been  somewhat 
lessened.  White  men's  stock  trespasses  on  a  portion  of  the  reservation  which 
the  cattlemen  have  long  regarded  as  their  own  free  range  and  this  works  serious 
injury  to  the  small  herds  of  the  Indians. 

The  capacity  of  the  Fort  Apache  boarding  school  is  65.  With  the  average 
attendance,  71,  it  is  overcrowded. 


FORT  BELKNAP  AGENCY 

The  Fort  Belknap  Agency  is  in  central  Montana  and  lies  between  the  Milk 
River,  which  forms  its  northern  boundary,  and  the  Little  Rocky  Mountains, 
whose  summits  bound  it  on  the  south.  On  this  reservation  live  about  1,300 
Indians,  of  whom  619  are  Gros  Ventres  of  the  Prairie,  a  division  of  the  Arapaho 
tribe  of  Algonquian  stock,  and  681  Assiniboines,  the  northernmost  tribe  of  the 
Dakotas,  of  Siouan  stock.    There  is,  of  course,  no  relationship  between  these 


fri' 


CHIEF  WETS  IT 

ASSINNIIIDINK 


Il  / 


1' 


i  ^ 

N 


ill 


Ml   !     i 


THE  RESERVATIONS 


89 


two  tribes,  and  they  are  placed  together  for  no  better  reason  than  that  both  of 
them  in  olden  times  inhabited  this  northern  t-untry.  There  are  Assiniboines  on 
the  Missouri  River,  at  Wolf  Point  and  Old  Fort  Peck,  and  other  bands  of  the 
same  tribe  live  at  various  points  in  the  British  possessions.  The  northern  part 
of  the  Belknap  reservation  is  one  of  the  bleakest  and  most  arid  regions  in  the 
United  States,  and,  while  well  adapted  for  stock  raising,  farming  is  impossible 
there.  From  the  slopes  of  the  Little  Rocky  Mountains,  however,  in  the  southern 
part  of  the  reservation,  a  number  of  streams  flow  down  to  the  prairie  and  efforts 
have  been  successfully  made  to  use  the  waters  of  these  streams  to  irrigate  a 
considerable  extent  of  bottom  land. 

Until  within  a  few  years  the  Fort  Belknap  Indians  were  in  a  miserable 
condition  and  had  made  no  progress  whatever  towards  civilization,  but  since 
1895,  under  a  good  agent,  sincerely  anxious  to  see  them  progress,  they  have  made 
a  remarkable  advance,  although  they  still  depend  on  government  rations  for 
more  than  half  their  support.  Very  many  of  them  are  now  cultivating  small 
farms,  on  which  they  raise  oats,  wheat,  potatoes  and  other  vegetables,  and 
besides  this,  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1899,  they  cut  and  stacked  1,650  tons  of 
hay.  They  have  had  cattle  for  a  good  many  years,  but  until  within  the  last  four 
have  paid  very  little  attention  to  caring  for  stock.  Lately  a  great  change  has  taken 
place;  they  are  looking  after  their  cattle  carefully  and  keeping  them  close  at 
home,  in  small  neighborhood  herds,  so  that  their  loss  has  been  comparatively 
slight.  The  facts  that  their  reservation  is  not  fenced  and  that  the  herds  of  the 
neighboring  cattlemen  wander  at  liberty  over  it  endanger  the  Indian  herds,  for 
in  their  migrations  to  and  fro  the  drifting  range  cattle  are  likely  to  pick  up  and 
carry  away  with  them  any  Indian  cattle  that  are  not  under  herd.  Notwith- 
standing the  losses  which  occur  in  this  way,  however,  the  cattle  of  the  Belknap 
Indians  are  increasing,  and  they  were  authorized  last  year  to  furnish  300,000  lbs. 
of  their  beef  issue. 

As  is  the  case  with  so  many  prairie  tribes,  the  Indians  of  the  Fort  Belknap 
Agency  have  many  more  horses  than  they  need,  or  ought  to  have,  and  these 
run  at  large  over  the  prairie,  consuming  the  grass  which  should  be  saved  for  the 
cattle.  Besides  this,  all  Indians  set  so  high  a  value  on  horses,  that  when  any 
stray  away  and  are  lost,  the  owner  at  once  proceeds  to  look  for  them.  As  the 
horses  constantly  wander,  much  of  the  time  of  the  Indians  which  ought  to  be 
devoted  to  farming  and  to  the  care  of  their  cattle  is  really  spent  in  hunting 
horses. 

Many  of  these  Indians  apply  the  money  received  by  them  from  the  sale  of 
crops  or  beef  to  the  purchase  of  farming  implements  from  the  local  dealers,  and 
I  am  told  that  men  who  buy  such  implements  with  their  own  money  take  far 
better  care  of  them  than  do  those  who  receive  government  implements  for 


L'  :l 


li 


ll   f 


I  I 


QO 


THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


temporary  use.  During  the  year  i8qq  these  Indians  received  from  the  sale  of 
beef  cattle  over  $13,000,  for  hauling  freight  and  for  the  sale  of  oats,  nearly  $1,000 
each,  and  for  the  sale  of  wood  and  lumber,  over  $2,300,  a  total  of  nearly  $18,000. 
They  also  earned  over  $S,ooo  for  labor  on  irrigating  ditches. 

I  have  spent  much  time  on  this  reservation  within  the  past  few  years  and  am 
familiar  with  the  conditions  prevailing  there,  and  there  is  no  question  that 
the  Indians  are  an.xious  to  improve  their  condition  and  need  only  encouragement 
and  proper  guidance  to  become  self-supporting  in  the  course  of  a  few  years. 
Their  present  agent.  Major  Luke  C.  Hays,  is  a  just  and  interested  man,  who  can 
do  much  for  them. 

A  government  boarding  school  and  a  contract  school  care  for  about  200 
children.  The  lattttr  has  kept  up  its  attendance  of  02  children,  notwithstanding 
the  partial  withdrawal  of  government  assistance.  It  now  receives  pay  for  but  24 
pupils. 

FORT   BERTHOLD   AGENCY 

The  Fort  Berthold  Agency,  in  North  Dakota,  is  occupied  by  three  tribes — 
the  Arickaras,  of  Caddoan  stock,  with  the  Mandans,  and  the  Gros  Ventres  of 
the  Village,  or  Minitari,  both  these  being  of  Siouan  stock.  All  these  are  rapidly 
decreasing  in  number.  There  are  now  416  Arickaras,  243  Mandans,  and  459 
Gros  Ventres. 

All  these  tribes  have  for  many  years  been  agricultural  people,  and  in 
favorable  seasons  they  raise  abundant  crops.  They  have  also  some  cattle, 
and  for  1898  and  1899  they  furnished  all  the  beef  and  part  of  the  wheat  needed 
for  issue  at  their  agency.  They  possess  4,000  head  of  cattle,  and  in  1899  sold  to 
the  government  produce  of  one  sort  or  another  to  the  amount  of  $14,600,  and 
in  addition  earned  $1,800  by  freighting.  Their  material  condition  is  thus 
encouraging,  except  as  frequent  bad  crop  years  keep  them  more  or  less 
dependent  on  government  rations.  On  the  other  hand,  the  health  of  the  three 
tribes  is  exceedingly  bad,  the  deaths  considerably  outnumbering  the  births,  and 
this  death-rate  is  largely  due  to  unsanitary  methods  of  living.  Efforts  are  now 
being  made  to  provide  them  with  new  houses,  which  shall  be  larger,  better 
lighted  and  ventilated,  and  which  shall  also  have  board  instead  of  dirt  floors. 

The  boarding  school  at  this  agency  was  recently  destroyed  by  fire,  and  the 
construction  of  a  new  one  is  well  under  way.  There  are  271  children  of  school 
age  on  the  reservation.    A  mission  school  cares  for  thirty. 

PORT   HALL   AGENCY 

The  Bannocks,  numbering  424,  and  the  Shoshoni,  1,014,  occupy  the  Fort 
Hall  reservation.    The  two  tribes  are  related,  being  important  members  of  the 


]\ 


THE   RESKRVATIONS 


91 


jfrcat  Shoshoni  languaKC  stock.  They  are  a  quiet,  temperate  and  moral  people, 
and  are  devoting  themselves  to  self-improvement  in  a  way  that  is  very 
satisfactory.  Most  of  thrm  work  at  ranchinj^  and  stock  raising,  at  which  they 
are  fairly  successful.  The  crops  last  reported  for  them  were  7.500  bushels  of 
wheat,  5,500  bushels  of  oats,  barley  and  rye,  4,qoo  bushels  of  vegetables,  and 
nearly  3,300  tons  of  hay.  They  sold  more  than  $21,000  worth  of  produce  last 
year  to  the  government  and  outside  parties.  They  are  fairly  well  provided  with 
stock,  having  many  horses,  and  about  2,300  head  of  cattle.  As  the  reservation 
is  in  the  arid  country,  irrigation  is  needed,  but  it  is  fairly  well  watered,  and 
usually  there  is  an  abundance  of  water  for  all.  These  Indians  are  greatly 
interested  in  their  cattle,  and  care  for  them  as  well  as  the  average  white  man, 
looking  after  them,  providing  hay,  and  seeing  that  they  are  protected  in  winter. 
Here,  as  in  many  other  places  where  the  Indians  possess  cattle,  the  white  people 
endeavor  to  purchase  them  from  their  owners  at  very  low  prices,  and  it  is  the 
duty  of  the  agent  to  prevent  this. 

There  is  comparatively  little  drinking  on  this  reservation  by  the  full 
blood  Indians,  but  there  are  a  considerable  number  of  half-breeds  who 
commonly  purchase  whisky  openly  in  the  neighboring  town  and  bring  it  on  the 
reservation,  where  it  breeds  trouble.  On  this  reservation,  as  on  most  others,  it  is 
a  matter  of  great  difficulty  to  secure  the  co-operation  of  local  officials  in 
attacking  this  evil. 

These  Indians  have  far  too  many  horses,  and  it  is  greatly  to  be  desired  that 
the  surplus,  beyond  what  they  need,  should  be  turned  into  money,  at  whatever 
price,  and  this  money  invested  in  cattle. 

The  Fort  Hall  boarding  school  has  accommodation  for  150  pupils,  and  an 
an  attendance  of  137.  There  are  not  far  from  300  children  of  school  age.  More 
room  is  needed,  and  new  buildings  to  replace  those  of  the  old  fort,  which  are 
dilapidated  and  tumble-down. 

FORT   PECK   AGENCY 

This  agency,  which  is  also  called  the  Poplar  River  Agency,  is  in  the  extreme 
northeastern  portion  of  Montana  and  has  for  its  southern  boundary  the  Missouri 
River.  It  is  occupied  by  about  1,222  Sioux  and  642  Assiniboincs,  both  of  Siouan 
stock. 

Like  most  other  Indians,  those  at  Fort  Peck  are  entirely  willing  to  work  and 
to  work  hard,  provided  they  can  see  the  prospect  of  a  return  for  their  labor. 
Their  country  is  fairly  well  watered  and  has  some  good  bottom  land,  which  would 
be  valuable,  provided  it  could  be  irrigated.  They  also  possess  some  cattle, 
about  3,000  head,  and  are  said  to  take  good  care  of  them.    The  lack  of  irrigation 


wmmm 


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98  THI     INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 

faciliti(!s,  however,  makes  the  hay  crop  a  doubtful  one  at  best,  and  the  stock 
industry  in  northern  Montana  can  never  be  regarded  as  a  safe  one  unless 
abundant  hay  is  put  up.  It  is  very  desirable  that  some  steps  should  be  taken  to 
make  the  most  of  the  water  on  this  reservation  and  to  bring  it  on  to  the  land, 
chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  raising  gardens  and  tin-  hay  crop.  It  may  be  doubt- 
ed whether  that  agriculture  which  consists  in  raising  crops  of  grain  will  ever  be 
successful  in  this  part  of  Montana.  At  present  70  per  cent,  of  their  subsistence 
comes  from  government  rations. 

There  are  374  children  of  school  age  on  Fort  Peck  reservation,  where  there 
is  an  industrial  boarding  school.  The  average  attendance  for  the  past  school 
year  was  14Q.  Two  private  schools  had  27  pupils,  and  130  attended  schools  off 
the  reservation.  Only  about  50  children  failed  of  instruction  in  some  school 
during  some  portion  of  the  year.  The  buildings  of  the  school,  which  consist  of 
the  abandoned  barracks  of  the  old  military  post,  are  in  a  very  dilapidated  con- 
dition and  are  unfit  for  occupation  by  the  children.  Two  brick  tlormitories 
are  now  being  constructed.  There  is  a  good  and  productive  school  farm  and  a 
school  herd  of  about  60  head  of  cattle. 


|l  I 


GRANDE  RONDE  AGENCY 


Under  what  was  Grande  Ronde  Agency  in  northwestern  Oregon  are  382 
Indians,  representing  nine  tribes  and  at  least  four  linguistic  stocks.  These  are 
Rogue  River  52  and  Umpqua  87  (both  Athapaskan),  Santiam  J7,  Luckamute  32, 
Mary's  River  33,  Yam  Hill  33  (all  Kalapooian).  Clackama  64  (Chinookan),  Cow 
Creek  30  (?  Waiilatpuan),  and  Wapeto  24.  These  Indians  raise  fair  crops  and 
have  a  small  start  in  cattle,  owning  about  500  head,  liesides  several  hundred  head 
of  swine. 

The  school  had  an  average  attendance  of  go  through  the  school  year  of  ten 
months.  The  agency  has  been  abolished  and  the  school  superintendent  has  been 
given  charge  of  the  Indians. 


GREEN  BAY  AGENCY 

The  Green  Bay  Agency  is  located  in  Wisconsin,  not  very  far  west  of  Green 
Bay.  About  this  agency  there  are  located  nearly  4.000  Indians;  1,389  Menominis 
(Algonquian),  1.941  Oneidas  (Iroquoian),  528  Stockbridges  and  Muncis  (Algon- 
quian).  The  two  reservations  with  the  allotted  Oneida  lands,  occupied  by  these 
people,  are  in  a  timbered,  farming  country,  and  ihe  Indians  are  doing  quite  well 
at  farming  and   lumbering.     They  have  also  a  very  few  cattle,  which  in  this 


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THE   RKSHRVATIONS  «• 

region,  of  course,  have  to  be  kept  up,  au  that  the  number  owned  by  each  family 
must  nect-ssurily  be  •imall.  They  raise  considerable  crops,  having  produced 
during  the  year  iHgt)  about  11,000  bushels  uf  wheat,  84,000  bushels  of  oati, 
barley  and  rye,  35,000  bushels  of  corn,  great  quantities  of  vegeiables,  and  2,400 
tons  of  hay.  Their  cattle  in  all  number  not  far  from  8co.  If  we  add  to  the 
incomes  of  the  farms,  the  sums  earned  by  logging  and  the  annuities  paid  them 
by  the  government,  we  shall  see  that  they  arc  not  badly  off.  The  Menominis  do 
the  most  of  the  lumbering,  while  the  Oneidas  devote  themselves  chiefly  to 
farming,  and  the  Stockbridges  and  Muncis,  who  are  doing  fairly  well  at  farming, 
are  so  divided  by  factional  quarrels  within  the  tribe  that  they  cannot  agree  upon 
any  course  of  action  to  be  pursued.  A  beginning  has  been  made  in  allotting 
lands  to  these  people,  who  are  much  better  qualified  for  this  step  than  most  other 
Indians;  almost  all  of  them  can  talk  English  and  a  considerable  number  of  the 
children  go  to  school.  The  Oneidas  are  regarded  as  citizens  and  vote  at  all 
elections,  casting  their  ballots  as  intelligently  as  their  white  neighbors. 

There  are  two  government  boarding  schools,  one  contract  boarding  school  and 
five  government  day  schools  connected  with  this  agency.  The  Menomini 
boarding  school  has  a  capacity  of  150  pupils,  and  the  school  is  always  crowded 
and  children  have  to  be  turned  away.  As  is  the  case  with  most  government 
boarding  schools,  there  is  a  good  farm  attached  to  the  schools,  where  the  boys 
are  taught  farming,  together  with  shoemaking  and  carpenter  shops.  The 
contract  boarding  school,  under  the  charge  of  the  Franciscan  Fathers,  has  a 
capacity  of  170  children.  Forty-five  government  pupils  were  received  during  the 
year  i8qq,  and  besides  these,  toothers  were  supported  by  the  order.  The  Oneida 
boarding  school  has  a  capacity  of  120  pupils  and  is  well  attended.  The  Oneidas 
also  have  four  day  schools  and  take  great  interest  in  sending  their  children  to 
school.  The  day  school  located  on  the  Stockbridge  and  Munci  reservation  has 
a  fairly  good  attendance.  The  Stockbridges  are  an  English-speaking  tribe  and 
their  long  association  with  white  people  has  given  hem  a  distinct  appreciation 
of  the  importance  of  educating  their  children. 

Most  of  the  Indians  are  nominally  Christians  and  the  many  churches  on  the 
reservation  are  well  attended. 

The  Indians  of  this  agency  have  every  opportunity  to  secure  liquor  and  they 
make  the  most  of  their  opportunities.  It  is  exceedingly  difficult  for  the  agent  to 
secure  evidence  against  liquor  sellers,  and  often  when  this  evidence  is  had,  the 
punishment  on  conviction  is  so  slight  that  it  has  no  effect  in  deterring  others 
from  indulging  in  the  traffic. 

The  health  of  the  tribes  seems  very  good,  and  they  are — perhaps  temporarily 
— increasing,  the  births  in  i8q8  having  exceeded  the  deaths  by  47  and  in  1899 
by  33-     As  elsewhere,  consumption  causes  the  greatest  number  of  deaths. 


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94 


THE  INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


HOOPA  VALLEY  AGENCY 


On  the  small  Hoopa  Valley  reservation  in  northern  California  live  four 
1;  ndredand  seventy-one  Hoopa  Indians  (Athapaskan),  who  have  had  their  lands 
allotted.  Under  the  same  agency  are  six  hundred  and  seventy-three  Klamaths 
(Luluamian),  who  have  received  allotments  along  the  Klamath  River.  They 
ire  an  industrious  ontented  and  fairly  prosperous  people,  owning  a  few  horses, 
cattle  and  small  stock  and  cultivating  the  ground,  from  which  they  raise  wheat, 
oats,  corn  and  vegetables. 

These  Indians  are  quiet,  law-abiding  and  amenable  to  order,  and  are  on 
good  terms  alike  with  their  Indian  and  white  neighbors. 

A  very  large  proportion  of  their  children  attend  school.  The  Hoopa  Valley 
boarding  school  at  this  agency,  occupying  the  build-ngs  of  an  old  military  post, 
has  a  capacity  of  two  hundred  and  an  average  attendance  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty-eight.  The  agency  here  has  recently  been  abolished  and  the  Indians  are 
under  the  charge  of  the  school  superintendent. 


m 


HUALAPAI  AGENCY 

Under  the  charge  of  a  Government  farmer  residing  at  Hackberry,  Arizona, 
are  the  Hualapais  and  Yava  Supais  (Yuman).  The  first,  numbering  about  five 
hundred,  lead  vagrant  and  dissolute  lives  in  the  vicinity  of  the  towns  along  the 
railroad.  The  sentiment  of  the  white  population  in  the  neighborhood  is  openly 
in  favor  of  selling  an  Indian  all  the  whisky  that  he  can  pay  for,  and  efforts 
to  arrest  and  convict  white  whisky  sellers  are  frowned  on  by  the  civilized 
community. 

Their  reservation  has  never  been  occupied  by  the  Hualapais,  and  as  it  is  arid, 
but  little  farming  is  possible.  The  earnings  of  the  Indians  come  from  the  white 
settlers,  to  whom  they  sell  a  little  hay  and  wood.  Some  of  the  Indians,  too,  hire 
themselves  out  as  cowboys  to  the  neighboring  cattlemen,  and  most  of  those  who 
have  entered  on  this  occupation  have  done  well.  They  make  good  herders,  and 
are  preterred  by  the  white  men  to  white  cowboys,  receiving  the  same  wages. 

The  Hualapai  reservation  was  selected  for  these  Indians  many  years  ago, 
because,  as  was  stated,  it  was  supposed  to  have  nothing  on  it  that  a  white  man 
would  want;  but  recently  it  has  been  found  to  have  a  few  good  cattle  ranges, 
which  should  be  occupied  by  cattle  belonging  to  the  Indians,  instead  of,  as  now, 
by  the  herds  of  the  neighboring  white  people.  It  cannot  be  doubted  that  if  the 
Indians  had  cattle,  they  would  take  at  least  as  much  interest  in  them  as  they  do 
in  those  owned  by  their  white  employers,  and  the  possession  of  such  herds 
would  give  them  independence  and  self-support.  Over  a  very  large  portion  of 
the  upland  of  the  reservation  farming  is  quite  impossible.    The  land  is  largely 


T 


,IM. 


THE  RESERVATIONS 


95 


are  on 


desert,  and  water  for  irrigation  cannot  be  found,  though  there  are  abundant 
water  holes  at  which  the  stock  drinks. 

The  reservation  has  never  been  surveyed,  and  no  one  knows  where  the  line 
runs.  This  leads  to  more  or  less  bickering  between  whites  and  Indians,  and  in 
the  case  of  crimes  committed  on  the  reservation,  to  a  failure  of  jurisdiction, 
both  of  the  Territorial  and  of  the  United  States  courts. 

The  Yava  Supais  live  by  themselves  in  a  deep  cafion,  far  from  the  habita- 
tions of  the  whites.  They  are  farmers,  clinging  to-day  to  the  same  methods,  the 
same  crops,  and  the  same  place  that  has  been  theirs  for  a  hundred  years.  They 
raise  large  crops  of  corn,  pumpkins,  melons  and  peaches,  and  are  entirely  self- 
supporting.  Living,  as  they  do,  by  themselves,  they  have  been  little  corrupted 
by  the  ways  of  civilization,  and,  if  let  alone,  will  continue  to  support  themselves, 
even  if  their  advance  is  not  very  rapid.  Within  the  past  few  years  a  school  has 
been  furnished  and  efforts  have  been  made  to  persuade  them  to  adopt  more 
modern  methods  of  farming,  and  the  implements  given  them  have  been  gladly 
accepted  and  vsed,  with  the  result  that  their  crops  have  considerably  increased. 

On  the  whole  it  may  be  said  that  these  Indians  are  making  substantial,  if 
slow,  progress  toward  self-support. 

The  two  Hualapai  day  schools  at  Hackberry  and  Kingman  have  a  united 
capacity  of  loo  with  an  average  attendance  of  96.  A  boarding  school  is  about  to 
be  furnished  them  in  Truxton  Caiion.  The  Supai  day  school,  capacity  60,  is 
fully  attended. 


JICARILLA  APACHES 

The  Jicarilla  Apaches  (Athapaskan)  are  under  the  same  agent  as  the 
Pueblos,  and  their  sub-agency  is  at  Dulce,  New  Mexico,  216  miles  distant  from 
the  agent's  office  at  Santa  Fe.  There  are  831  of  these  Indians  and  they  receive 
rations  to  about  one-half  the  amount  necessary  for  their  support.  There  is  a 
very  little  farming  land  in  the  reservation,  from  which  the  Indians  raise  a  small 
amount  of  grain  by  the  aid  of  water.  Their  irrigation  facilities  might  be 
increased,  but  at  present  they  farm  only  the  bottom  lands  close  to  the  streams. 
The  reservation  is,  however,  a  good  stock  range  and  the  Jicarillas  might  in  time 
become  self-supporting  from  that  industry,  if  the  means  were  furnished  them. 
They  are,  however,  very  little  advanced  and  would  have  to  be  carefully  watched 
to  keep  them  from  eating  their  live  stock. 

Although.there  are  251  children  of  school  age  here,  there  is  no  school  nor  any 
educational  opportunities  whatever  on  the  reservation.  The  Indians  are  anxious 
to  send  their  children  to  a  home  school,  for  which  plans  are  now  being  made. 

Drunkenness  is  very  prevalent  here,  the  Indians  freely  purchasing  whisky  on 
their  visits  to  the  towns  to  trade.     During  the  last  year  no  less  than  sixty-seven 


^^^^SJIIp'**'*'^;'**  Vj«B»p*' 


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1  i 


?if     I 


96 


THE  INDIANS  OF  TO-UAY 


Indians  were  imprisoned  in  the  agenry  jail  for  drunkenness,  and  the  evil  seems 
to  be  on  the  increase. 

On  the  whole  the  Jicarillas  are  in  a  condition  about  as  wretched  as  any  of 
the  western  Indians.  Yet,  a lthou>,'h  so  unfitted  for  self-support  or  self-govern- 
ment, their  lands  have  been  allotted  to  these  Indians,  but  through  the  careless- 
ness of  the  allotting  officials,  when  the  allotment  papers  were  returned,  only  about 
1 20  could  be  delivered,  owing  to  the  failure  of  the  officials  to  get  the  names  of 
the  Indians  to  whom  the  allotments  were  made.  The  completion  of  this  work 
is  likely  to  render  nine-tenths  of  these  Indians  paupers,  or  worse,  and  to  free 
them  from  the  slight  restraint  which  the  government  now  exercises  over  them. 

KIOWA  AGENCY 

Under  the  Kiowa  Agency,  which  has  its  headquarters  at  Anadarko,  Okla- 
homa, are  four  different  tribes,  the  Kiowa,  numbering  1,074;  the  Comanche 
of  Shoshonean  stock,  1,490;  the  Apache  of  Athapaskan  stock,  176;  and  the 
Wichita  of  Caddoan  stock,  956.  With  the  Wichitas  are  a  number  of  other 
Indians,  also  of  Caddoan  stock,  Caddos,  Tavvaconis,  Kichais  and  Huecos;  there 
are  also  a  few  Delawares  of  Algonquian  stock.  The  Kiowas,  Comanches  and 
Apaches  occupy  in  common  a  reservation  which  contains  about  3,000,000  acres  of 
land  lying  between  the  Washita  River  on  the  north  and  the  North  Fork  of  the 
Red  River  on  the  south.  The  Wichita  reservation  comprises  about  750,000  acres, 
and  is  bounded  on  the  south  by  the  Washita  and  on  the  north  by  the  South 
Fork  of  the  Canadian  River. 

While  considerable  portions  of  these  reservations  are  best  adapted  to 
stock  raising,  there  are  nevertheless  many  tracts  of  good  farming  land 
along  the  streams  and  in  the  bottom  lands.  This  is  a  country  well 
adapted  to  the  raising  of  grain,  when  there  is  sufficient  rain,  and  as  a 
portion  of  these  Indians  have  always  practiced  agriculture,  they  have  good 
crops  in  favorable  seasons.  Besides  that,  these  tribes  possess  considerable  herds 
of  cattle,  and  mixed  farming  is  likely  to  be  successful  here.  Although  when 
cattle  were  first  given  them,  the  Indians  understood  very  little  about  taking  care 
of  them,  they  are  gradually  coming  to  look  after  their  stock  better,  so  that  now 
many  of  them  own  individually  good  herds  of  cattle.  They  put  up  plenty  of 
hay  for  their  stock  and  take  fair  care  of  it.  This  industry  is  likely  to  be  more 
profitable  than  agriculture,  but  as  stated,  there  are  abundant  bottom  lands  where 
gardens  and  small  crops  can  always  be  raised. 

In  the  midst  of  the  Kiowa  and  Comanche  reservation  stands  the  military 
post  of  Fort  Sill,  and  the  Indians  of  the  reservation  have  furnished  large 
quantities  of  hay  and  wood  for  the  post,  as  well  as  all  the  hay,  grain  and  feed 
necessary  for  the  use  of  the  agency.  Moreover  all  the  freighting  of  govern- 
ment supplies  is  done  by  the  Indians,  who  are  at  all  times  willing  to  work  when 


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THE   RESERVATIONS 


97 


they  find  any  occupation  that  will  enable  them  to  earn  money.  There  are  a 
large  number  of  Indians  among  the  agency  employees  and  the  aggregate  of  their 
wages  is  about  $10,000  per  annum. 

There  are  three  government  boarding  schools  and  one  day  school  on  the 
reservation,  besides  five  mission  schools,  the  capacity  of  all  being  600  and  the 
attendance  506.  Certain  additions  to  the  government  school  plants  now 
contemplated  will,  if  carried  out,  furnish  accommodation  for  all  the  children  of 
the  agency. 

The  health  of  the  people  on  this  reservation  is  said  to  be  generally  good. 
Most  of  the  deaths  are  due  to  consumption.  Malarial  fevers  are  sometimes 
very  prevalent  here. 

KLAMATH  AGENCY 

At  this  agency  are  located  the  Klamath  and  Modoc  Indians,  the  latter  well 
known  as  having  come  in  conflict  with  the  United  States  authorities  many  years 
ago,  after  which  many  of  them  were  removed  to  the  Indian  Territory,  where 
they  still  live.  These  tribes  are  allied  and  belong  to  the  Lutuamian  stock. 
There  are  217  of  the  Modocs,  with  whom  are  103  Piutes  (Shoshonean),  and 
S25  Klamaths.  Among  them,  but  said  to  have  been  absorbed  by  the  Klamaths, 
are  the  so-called  Pitt  River  Indians  (Palaihnihan),  originally  from  the  Pitt  River 
country  in  California,  south  of  the  Klamath  Basin. 

These  Indians  have  taken  their  land  in  severalty  and  are  making  many 
improvements,  and  farming  with  some  energy.  They  raise  considerable  crops 
and  possess  about  4,000  head  of  cattle.  Their  reservation  is  a  good  one  for 
farming,  and  as  the  Indians  are  docile  and  energetic,  they  are  likely  to  get 
ahead.  There  is  much  good  land  here,  and  if  irrigated,  it  would  provide  the 
Indians  with  more  farming  territory  than  they  could  use.  There  is  still 
some  game,  and  the  streams  abound  in  fish,  which,  by  treaty,  are  reserved  to  the 
Indians. 

There  are  two  schools,  known  as  the  Klamath  and  Yainax  schools.  The 
average  attendance  at  the  first  named  is  82,  while  at  the  Yainax  school  the 
average  attendance  was  79.  The  schools  are  not  nearly  large  enough,  and  are 
in  a  more  or  less  dilapidated  condition.  There  is  room  for  improvement  at 
both  places. 

LA  POINTE  AGENCY 


This  agency  is  situated  in  northern  Wisconsin,  near  the  shores  of  Lake 
Superior.  It  comprises  seven  reservations;  four  in  Wisconsin  and  three  in 
Minnesota;  the  whole  including  more  than  500,000  acres  of  land.  These  reser- 
vations are  at  Red  Cliff,  Bayfield  County,  Wisconsin;  Bad  River,  Ashland 
County,  Wisconsin;  Lac  Court  d'Oreilles,  Sawyer  County,  Wisconsin;  Lac  du 


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THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


Flambeau,  Vilas  County,  Wisconsin;  Fond  riu  Lac,  Carleton  County,  Minnesota; 
Vermillion  Lake,  St.  Louis  and  Itasca  Counties,  Minnesota;  Grand  Portage, 
Cook  County,  Minnesota.  On  the  several  reservations  are  located  4,;82  Chip- 
pewa Indians  (.Myonquian).  There  are  also  200  Indians  in  Forest  County, 
Wisconsin,  known  as  Rice  Lake  Chippewas,  who  are  nominally  connected  with 
this  agency. 

These  Indians,  on  the  whole,  are  not  doing  well.  Many  of  them  have  small 
clearings  and  gardens  which  they  cultivate  in  an  inefficient  manner,  but  their 
chief  dependence  for  support  is  sugar  making,  berry  picking,  rice  ga  hering, 
fishing  and  hunting.  On  the  other  hand  considerable  logging  is  done,  although 
most  of  the  timber  on  parts  of  the  reservations  has  been  cut  off. 

There  are  nine  day  schools  and  three  boarding  schools,  two  of  them 
contract  schools,  under  the  charge  of  tht  agency,  but  at  most  of  them  the 
attendance  is  very  small.  For  e.xample,  at  the  four  day  schools  on  Lac  Court 
d'Oreilles  reservation  the  average  attendance  is  only  sixty-four,  although  the 
total  population  of  the  reservation  is  about  1,150.  The  Fond  du  Lac  day 
schools  have  an  average  attendance  of  thirty-two,  while  the  total  population  is 
7q6.  The  total  school  population  of  all  these  reservations  is  1,120;  the  attend- 
ance, 457.  A  new  boarding  school  at  Vermillion  Lake  is  now  ready  for  pupils, 
and  another  boarding  school  for  the  Lac  Court  d'Oreilles  Chippewas  is  being 
constructed — unwisely — at  Hayward,  Wis.,  twenty  miles  distant,  instead  of  on  the 
reservation.  The  fact  that  these  Indians  are  not  permanently  settled,  but  are 
wandering  about  more  or  less  during  the  summer  months,  makes  the  attendance 
at  these  schools  very  unsatisfactory. 

The  health  of  these  people  receives  but  little  attention.  There  is  a  single 
physician,  with  headquarters  at  Ashland,  to  care  for  these  seven  reservations, 
and  however  conscientious  he  may  be,  or  however  hard  he  may  work,  it  is 
impossible  for  him  to  accomplish  much. 

Nearly  2,500  allotments  have  been  made  to  these  Indians,  covering  about 
i8q,ooo  acres  of  land. 

LEECH  LAKE  ACxENCY 

Under  the  newly  formed  Leech  Lake  Agency  are  1,346  Red  Lake,  639 
Mississippi  and  1,319  Pillager  Chippewas  (Algonquian),  who  were  formerly  under 
the  White  Earth  Agency.  The  Red  Lake  Indians  have  fine  farming  lands  and 
raise  good  crops  of  corn,  and  with  plenty  of  fish,  live  comfortably.  The  Pillagers 
have  scattered  potato  patches  along  the  lakes  in  the  pine  woods,  and  with  fish 
and  wild  rice  and  some  game  manage  to  get  along  and  to  reject  overtures  for 
removal  to  the  fertile  White  Earth  reservation. 

The  Indians  of  this  agency  have  small  annuities  under  treaty,  and  share  in 


I ,; 


THE   RESERVATIONS 


90 


the  proceeds  of  pine  timber  and  lands  surrendered  by  the  whole  Chippewa  tribe 
under  agreements  ne(;otiated  with  the  various  bands  in  iHHq.  Many  of  them 
have  received  allotments. 

Whisky  has  been  freely  obtained  by  the  Indians  and  its  use  encouraged  so 
as  to  increase  the  number  of  arrests  of  offenders  and  witnesses  upon  which 
deputy  marshals  might  obtain  fees  and  mileage.  The  Imlians  finally  came  to 
pay  no  attention  to  warrants  and  to  resist  arrests.  This  resulted  in  a  serious 
conflict,  in  October,  i8c>8,  between  some  Pillagers  and  a  detachment  of  U.  S. 
troops  which  had  been  sent  to  assist  the  deputy  marshals  in  making  arrests  ;  six 
.soldiers  were  killed  and  twelve  wounded.  Irritation  and  resentment  born  of 
fraud  and  injustice  in  the  disposition  of  their  pine  land  funds  was  a  more  remote 
cause  of  the  outbreak.  In  subsequent  councils  held  with  the  Commissioner  of 
Indian  Affairs  all  but  three  of  the  Indians  for  whom  warrants  had  been  issued 
surrendered  themselves  to  the  marshals. 

Miserable  and  meager  accommodations  for  lOO  pupils  in  two  overcrowded 
boarding  schools  are  now  being  replaced  by  five  new  buildings — three  of  them 
for  new  schools — which  will  treble  the  capacity.  There  is  also  at  Red  Lake  a 
contract  school  attended  by  fifty-seven  children. 

LKMHI  AGENCY 

Five  hundred  and  twelve  Indians,  all  of  Shoshone  an  stock,  occupy  the  Lemhi 
reservation,  which  is  situated  in  the  Lemhi  Valley,  Idaho,  about  seventy  miles 
distant  from  Red  Rock,  Montana.  The  tribes  represented  are:  Shoshonis,  Sheep 
Eaters  and  Bannocks.  These  people  are  by  no  means  progressive,  they  raise 
little  or  nothing,  have  no  cattle,  and  might  fairly  enough  be  called  worthless. 
Having  no  occupation,  and  nothing  to  keep  them  busy,  they  devote  themselves 
to  gambling  and  dancing.     There  are  exceptions  to  this  rule,  but  they  are  few. 

The  country  which  they  inhabit  is  a  dry,  grazing  country,  and  the  altitude 
being  considerable,  5,400  feet,  there  is  not  much  to  be  done  in  the  way  of  farm- 
ing. There  are  2,000  or  3,000  acres  of  land  here,  susceptible  of  cultivation,  and, 
if  a  proper  irrigation  system  were  devised  and  put  in  operation,  all  this  land 
might  be  cultivated  to  the  e.xtent  of  producing  wild  hay,  timothy,  clover  and 
alfalfa,  as  well  as  oats  and  barley.  If  water  should  be  brought  on  this  land,  and 
a  few  cattle  distributed  among  these  Indians,  they  would,  undoubtedly,  with 
proper  handling,  make  a  start  at  becoming  self-supporting. 

As  it  is,  the  government  issues  them  about  one-third  rations,  and  they  earn 
the  rest  of  their  living  by  hunting,  fishing,  and  by  working  for  the  white  people. 
They  have  no  especial  incentive  to  improve  themselves,  and  are  not  likely  to 
make  any  long  strides  in  advance  until  they  see  some  such  reward. 

There  is  a  boarding  school  here  with  an  average  attendance  of  twenty-nine 
pupils,  there  being  more  than  100  children  of  school  age  on  the  reservation. 


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LOWKR  HRULfe  AGENCY 

The  Lower  Brule  reservation  lies  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Missouri  River 
immediately  opposite  the  Crow  Creel\  Ajjency,  in  South  Dakota.  It  is  now 
occupied  by  only  472  allotted  Brule  Sioux,  the  other  half  of  the  band  having 
removed  to  the  Rosebud  reservation.  July  1,  iHgq,  they  formally  joined  the 
Rosebud  Sioux. 

This  is  another  reservation  where  farming  has  been  attempted  without 
success.  It  is  essentially  a  grazing  country,  and  the  people  here,  to  accomplish 
anything,  must  devote  themselves  to  stock  raising.  They  have  had  some  cattle, 
but  recent  severe  winters  have  caused  heavy  losses  and  their  herds  are  consider- 
ably reduced.  Nevertheless  in  the  year  ending  June  30,  i8c>q,  they  furnished  the 
government  with  59,000  pounds  of  b'^ef.  and  in  the  same  year  they  put  up  1,000 
tons  of  hay  for  their  cattle.  They  are  making  slow  progress,  but  they  are 
certainly  advancing,  though  they  still  receive  rations. 

There  are  106  children  of  school  age  now  here.  The  attendance  at  the 
boarding  school  during  iSgg  was  150.  As  the  capacity  of  the  school  is  about  140, 
it  will  hereafter  more  than  meet  the  needs  of  the  reduced  population. 

MEDAWAKANTON  SIOUX 

With  headquarters  for  a  «lisbursing  agent  at  Redwood  Falls,  Minnesota, 
there  are  scattered  over  the  neighboring  country  900  Sioux  belonging  to  this 
band,  of  whom  but  200  arc  full  bloods.  They  arc  located  near  Mendota, 
Shakopee,  Eggleston  and  Morton.  As  a  rule  these  people  are  sober  and  indus- 
trious. They  receive  annuities  in  money  and  are  practically  self-supporting. 
The  mixed  bloods  labor  at  the  ordinary  occupations  of  the  whites,  while  of  the 
full  bloods,  the  women  make  lace,  and  the  men  Indian  curiosities  for  trade. 

There  is  a  government  day  school  at  Morton  which  cares  for  a  portion  of 

the  children  and  there  is  also  a  mission   day   school.     No  doubt  many  of  the 

children  of  the  mixed  bloods  attend  the  district  schools  of  this  well   settled 

region. 

MESCALERO  AGENCY 

The  Mescalero  Agency  is  in  New  Mexico  just  south  of  Fort  Stanton.  Here 
there  are  443  Mescalero  Apaches  (Athapaskan),  occupying  a  reservation  which 
has  a  fine  climate  and  an  excellent  sheep  range  among  its  mountains,  but 
contains  only  qco  acres  of  irrigable  land,  of  which  400  acres  have  been  in  posses- 
sion of  white  persons  for  twenty  years.  The  remainder  is  all  under  cultivation 
by  the  Indians.  Other  small,  scattered  tracts  can  be  made  to  yield  crops  only 
when  the  uncertain  rainfall  is  sufficient.  A  sawmill  recently  provided  has  given 
the  Mescalero  Apaches  their  first  opportunity  to  exchange  tepees  for  houses, 
which  they  are  doing  rapidly.    The  placing  of  every  available  child  in  school,  the 


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wearing  of  civilized  dress  and  the  cutting  uf  the  hair  have  been  rigidly  enforced. 
In  i8q7  there  were  issued  lu  these  Indians  5,000  sheep.  They  have  since  bought 
a  few  hundred  goats,  and  fenced  in  additional  pasturage.  Rations  have  been 
regularly  issued  but  in  decreasing  quantities  until  last  summer,  when,  for  the  time 
being  at  least,  rations  were  withdrawn  from  all  but  the  Indian  police  and  about 
50  aged  persons.  Their  boarding  school  can  accommodate  about  100  children 
and  is  full.    A  few  other  youth  have  been  sent  away  to  school. 

The  Mescalero  Agency  «vas  abolished  not  long  ago,  the  Indians  being  now  in 
charge  of  a  school  superintendent. 

MISSION-TULE  AGENCY 

Under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  so-calle»l  Mission-Tule  River  Agency  are  three 
grou|)s  of  Indians,  the  Yuma,  numbering  707,  the  Tule  River  161,  and  the  Mission 
Indians  3,954.  These  last  represent  several  stocks  and  a  great  number  of  tribes 
and  survivors  of  tribes,  with  of  course  a  very  large  admixture  of  Mexican  blood. 
They  are  such  Indians  as  in  Mexico  would  be  called  peons.  The  Mission 
Indians  are  nominally  civilized  ;  that  is  to  say,  they  wear  white  men's  clothing, 
live  in  houses,  and  in  many  respects  have  adopted  white  men's  ways. 

During  the  Spanish  occupancy  of  the  country  they  lived  by  farming  and 
stock  raising,  under  the  instruction  and  more  or  less  under  the  peonage  of  the 
Catholic  missions.  After  California  became  a  part  of  the  United  States  and  the 
white  population  increased,  claims  in  due  legal  form  were  filed  upon  lands  which 
Indians  had  cultivated  for  generations  and  there  was  no  one  to  present  the 
counter  claims  of  the  Indians.  They  were  thus  gradually  forced  into  the  moun- 
tains and  deserts  until  they  were  barely  rescued  from  utter  vagabondage  and 
beggary  by  the  setting  aside,  in  1875  and  subsequently,  of  180,000  acres  in  25 
small  reservations  as  near  their  homes  as  available  land  could  then  be  secured. 
Many  of  these  reservations  have  little  or  no  water,  and  litigation  and  trespass  is 
the  lot  of  those  which  have  water.  Allotments  have  been  made  upon  eleven, 
and  five  others  are  to  be  allotted  when  surveys  are  completed.  The  lines 
bounding  many  of  the  reservations  are  unmarked,  so  that  no  one  knows  just 
what  their  limits  are,  and  the  confusion  resulting  from  this  leads  to  constant 
dissatisfaction  and  uneasiness. 

Where  possible,  crops  are  raised  ;  the  Indians  also  do  considerable  work  on 
ranches  and  as  sheep  shearers  are  in  demand.  On  the  whole  they  are  wretch- 
edly poor,  depend  largely  upon  acorns  and  mesquite  beans  and  are  more  or  less 
improvident. 

A  boarding  school  at  Perris,  California,  has  accommodations  for  150,  and  an 
attendance  of  186  pupils,  and  there  are  also  ten  day  schools  attended  by  192 
pupils. 


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The  Yumas  live  in  their  old-time  way  on  an  unirrigated  reservation  on  the 
Colorado  River,  their  only  civilizing  influence  being  a  boarding  school  in  the 
old  Fort  Yuma  military  post  which  is  attended  by  126  of  their  children.  The 
Tule  River  Indians  live  comfortably  in  a  fairly  civilized  way,  and  have  a  day 
school. 

As  is  always  the  case,  under  conditions  such  as  these,  the  liquor  trafific 
flourishes  among  these  Indians,  and  it  is  a  difficult  matter  to  secure  proof  of 
violation  of  the  law  and  a  conviction.  It  seldom  happens  that  public  sentiment 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  reservations  supports  the  law  against  whisky  selling 
to  the  Indians,  and  it  is  thus  almost  impossible  to  put  an  end  to  it,  unless  thr 
agent  is  a  man  of  exceptional  energy  and  force.  The  health  of  these  Indians  ii 
unsatisfactory  and  the  death-rate  high.  Consumption,  scrofula  and  organic 
heart  disease  are  the  most  common  and  most  fatal  of  their  complaints. 

NAVAJO  AGENCY 

These  Indians  occupy  a  large  reservation  lying  partly  in  northeastern 
Arizona,  and  partly  in  northwestern  New  Mexico.  They  are  estimated  to 
number  more  than  20,500.  Water  is  extremely  scarce  here,  and  the  main 
industry  is  stock  raising.  For  many  years  the  Navajoes  (Athapaskan)  have  been 
a  pastoral  people,  and  they  are  said  now  to  possess  more  than  100,000  cattle, 
1,000,000  sheep  and  250,000  goats,  though  no  reliable  figures  can  be  ascertained. 
They  are  industrious,  and  where  water  can  be  had,  farm  their  patches  with  good 
success.  Their  wool  crop  is  considerable.  They  obtain  quite  an  income  from 
the  manufacture  and  sale  of  blankets  ;  some  of  them  work  on  the  railroad.  On 
account  of  the  lack  of  water  there,  not  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  tribe  live,  or 
can  live,  on  the  reservation,  and  to  gather  them  all  on  the  reserve,  as  has 
been  proposed,  would  mean  that  they  must  starve  on  its  deserts,  or  be  rationed 
by  the  government. 

Like  most  people  of  Athapaskan  stock,  the  Navajoes  are  energetic  and 
hardworking.  They  are  law-abiding,  too,  and  mind  their  own  business,  never 
interfering  with  that  of  their  neighbors. 

In  the  year  1897,  sixteen  families  of  Navajoes,  who  had  taken  their  flocks  a 
short  distance  off  the  reservation,  were  assaulted  by  the  officials  of  Coconino 
County,  and  a  number  of  their  sheep  were  killed.  The  brutal  action  of  the 
county  authorities,  though  clearly  established  at  the  time,  was  subsequently 
denied,  and  no  action  to  right  the  injury  done  to  the  Indians  has  been  taken  by 
the  United.States  authorities.  Of  course,  the  Indians  had  put  themselves  in  the 
wrong  by  leaving  their  reservation. 

Within  the  last  three  years  special  attention  has  been  given  to  developing 
by  ditches  and   reservoirs    what  little  water  supply  the   reservation    affords. 


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THE   RESERVATIONS 


'03 


Nearly  2,000  acres  of  arable  land  have  thus  been  added  to  the  farming  resources 
of  the  Navajo.  Moreover,  they  have  been  advised  and  assisted  in  improving 
their  own  rude  systems  of  irrigation. 

The  Navajo  children  are  bright  and  industrious,  and  their  progress  in  school 
is  very  satisfactory,  but  there  is  school  accommodation  for  only  about  150 
children.  The  boarding  school  not  far  from  Gallup,  N.  M.,  has  a  capacity  of  120 
and  an  average  attendance  of  77.    There  is  also  one  day  school. 

Under  the  same  agent  as  the  Navajo  are 

THE  MOKI 


These  Pueblo  Indians  (Shoshonean)  live  in  compact  villages  on  the  barren 
tops  of  three  mesas  in  their  considerable  reservation,  which  lies  southwest  of  and 
adjoining  the  Navajo  reservation.  They  are  now,  as  they  always  have  been, 
tillers  of  the  soil,  and  raise  considerable  crops  in  the  valleys  below  and  at  some 
distance  from  their  homes,  the  area  of  their  cultivated  lands  being  about  10,000 
acres.  They  raise  corn  and  vegetables,  and  possess  a  few  cattle,  sheep  and 
goats,  and  usually  have  one  or  two  years'  supply  of  grain  in  their  storehouses.  A 
few  have  been  induced  to  come  down  from  the  crowded  mesas  and  to  build  and 
occupy  houses  in  the  vicinity  of  their  cultivated  field,  but  they  are  loath  to  make 
any  change  in  their  traditional  customs,  and  most  of  the  ninety-six  houses  are 
occupied  only  in  summer. 

In  this  dry  country  where  nothing  can  be  raised  without  the  use  of  water, 
and  where  water  is  extremely  scarce,  there  have  been  frequent  disputes  between 
the  Indians  who  occupy  the  land  and  the  whites  who  trespass  upon  it  and 
endeavor  to  take  up  the  springs,  which  are  the  only  valuable  things  that  it 
possesses.  After  one  of  the  most  recent  of  these  disputes,  the  Department 
confirmed  to  the  Indians,  in  August,  1897,  certain  allotments  of  land,  and  all 
parties  concerned  were  notified  of  this  decision,  and  the  white  claimants  were 
warned  to  refrain  from  molesting  the  Indians.  Nevertheless,  when  planting 
time  came,  in  i8q8,  a  Mormon  claimant  reasserted  his  claim  to  part  of  the 
allotted  land,  and  refused  to  permit  the  Indians  to  plant  there.  The  agent, 
thereupon,  ordered  the  agency  farmer  for  that  district  to  take  possession  of  the 
land,  and  to  plant  it  for  the  Indian,  by  force,  if  necessary.  The  farmer  did  so, 
and  was  then  arrested  and  tried  before  a  justice  of  the  peace  and  sentenced  to 
imprisonment  for  six  months  and  to  pay  a  fine  of  $300.  The  case  was  appealed 
by  the  agent,  but  in  the  meantime  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  was  persuaded 
to  suspend  his  order  approving  the  allotments.  An  inspector,  sent  out  to  inves- 
tigate the  matter,  readjusted  the  allotment  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Indians, 
while  recognizing  such  rights  as  the  Mormon  claimant  possessed. 


T  ifj^ttmiHafiii  mill ^ 


104 


THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


»      ;< 


M  ■  '  I 


The  Moki  arc  given  as  numbering  2,641.  The  historic  and  most  conservative 
Pueblo  of  Oraibi  is  on  this  reservation. 

During  the  past  year  a  scourge  of  smallpox  swept  over  two  of  the  Moki  mesas, 
but  by  strict  quarantine  the  third  mesa  escaped.  There  were  632  cases  and  187 
deaths  in  the  population  of  2,600. 

The  Ream's  CaTlon  boarding  school  in  Arizona  for  the  Moki  has  a  capacity 
of  100,  with  an  attendance  of  78.  Another  boarding  school  has  just  been  started 
at  Blue  CaHon.  There  are  three  day  .schools,  with  a  capacity  of  120  and  an 
enrollment  of  122. 

NEAH  BAY  AGENCY 

The  Neah  Bay  Agency  is  located  in  the  extreme  northwestern  part  of  the 
State  of  Washington.  Of  the  707  Indians  in  this  agency,  404  belong  to  the 
Makah  tribe  (Wakashan),  228  to  the  Quilliutes,  and  75  to  the  Hohs  (Chimakuan). 
Since  i8q8  the  Indians  here  have  decreased  in  number,  owing  to  an  epidemic  of 
measles. 

The  Makahs,  since  seal  catching  is  denied  them,  are  turning  their  attention 
somewhat  to  farming  and  stock  raising,  for  which  their  landb  are  not  suited, 
while  most  of  their  income  is  from  the  fish  they  ship  to  Seattle.  The  other 
tribes  are  very  poor.  There  are  two  day  schools,  one  at  Neah  Bay,  and  one  at 
Quillayute.  There  is  no  school  at  Hoh  and  they  seem  to  be  in  need  of  assistance 
in  many  ways.     They  own  250  head  of  cattle. 

Whisky  drinking  is  a  failing  with  these  Indians,  and  it  is  almo.st  impossible 
to  find  out  where  they  get  it. 

NEVADA  AGENCY 

Five  hundred  and  fifty-two  Piute  (Shoshonean)  Indians  are  under  the  Nevada 
Agency,  which  is  near  the  town  of  Wadsworth,  Nevada.  The  reservation 
includes  within  its  boundaries  Pyramid  Lake,  a  large  body  of  water  from  which, 
by  fishing,  the  Indians  draw  a  large  portion  of  their  subsistence.  They  also 
work  for  neighboring  farmers  and  stockmen.  The  territory  in  which  their  land 
is  situated  is  dry  and  mountainous,  and  crops  can  be  raised  only  by  means  of 
irrigation.  They  cultivate  less  than  200  acres  of  land  ana  their  crops  often  fail 
on  account  of  the  scarcity  of  water.  Ditches  are  now  being  constructed  which 
will  irrigate  more  land.  This  reservation  is  well  adapted  to  stock  raising,  and  if 
these  Indians  were  furnished  with  a  number  of  stock  cattle  and  taught  how  to 
care  for  them,  they  would  urdoubtedly  do  well.  At  present  their  earnings  from 
any  source  are  exceedingly  small.  They  do  their  own  freighting  and  annually 
earn  about  $700  in  this  way.  They  also  supply  the  agency  with  wood  and  hay, 
which  gives  them  about  $2,000  more. 


jnservative 

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THE   RESERVATIONS 


105 


There  is  a  boarding  school  at  Pyramid  Lake,  but  it  is  poorly  provided, 
and  has  an  average  attendance  of  68  children,  while  there  are  on  the  reserva- 
tion 122  children  of  school  age.  The  school  at  Carson,  Nevada,  takes  a 
number  of  them.     The  health  of  the  children  at  the  schools  is  said  to  be  good. 

In  the  town  of  Wadsworth,  situated  on  the  borders  of  the  reservation,  more 
or  less  liquor  is  constantly  sold  to  the  Indians  and  the  usual  difficulties  follow. 
What  the  Nevada  reservation  especially  needs  is  better  irrigation  facilities,  the 
issue  to  the  Indians  of  some  live  stock,  and  better  school  conditions. 

NEW  YORK  AGENCY 

Under  the  New  York  Agency,  in  the  northern  and  western  part  of  the  State, 
are  5,320  Indians,  who  are  in  part  descendants  of  the  old  Six  Nations  of  the 
Iroquois.  There  are  170  Cayugas  who  have  no  reservation,  and  reside  largely  on 
the  Cattaraugus  reservation.  They  receive  annuities  from  the  State  of  New 
York,  and  merchandise  annuities  from  the  United  States.  The  Onondagas 
number  551,  and  most  of  them  occupy  a  reservation,  which  contains  about  6,100 
acres,  about  five  miles  south  of  Syracuse.  A  considerable  portion  of  this  is 
arable  land  which,  for  the  most  part,  is  cultivated  by  white  people  under  leases. 
The  stone  quarries  on  the  hillsides  are  also  worked  by  white  people  under  leases. 
A  very  few  of  the  Onondagas  are  well-to-do  farmers.  The  Oneidas  number  255. 
A  few  reside  on  individual  farms  near  the  village  of  Oneida  in  Madison  County. 
Other  Oneidas  live  or.  the  Onondaga  reservation.  Most  of  the  tribe  moved  to 
Wisconsin  in  1846.    Those  that  remain  in  New  York  are  citizens. 

The  Senecas  are  far  the  most  numerous  of  these  New  York  Indians  and 
number  2,812.  They  occupy  three  reservations  known  as  the  Allegi'.ny,  Cat- 
taraugus and  Tonawanda  reservations;  all  in  the  western  part  of  the  "jtate. 
They  are  not  doing  well,  for  although  there  are  among  them  a  few  good  farmers, 
most  of  them  grow  scanty  crops  and  depend  for  their  living,  chiefly  upon  work- 
ing for  their  white  neighbors.  To  a  very  great  extent,  their  lands  are  leased  to 
white  people  for  long  terms  of  years,  and  the  same  is  true  of  certain  oil  lands  on 
the  Allegany  reservation.  There  are  a  few  good  Indian  farmers  on  all  these 
different  reservations,  but  they  are  the  exceptions  to  the  rule,  and  the  reserva- 
vations  are  for  the  most  part  occupied  by  whites.  The  St.  Regis  Indians, 
numbering  1,154,  occupy  a  reservation  located  on  the  St.  Lawrence  River  in 
Franklin  County,  just  on  the  boundary  line  between  New  York  and  Canada,  and 
the  Canadian  St.  Regis  reservation  adjoins  it  on  the  north.  The  American 
Indians  have  some  good  farming  land  on  their  reservation,  but  most  of  them 
have  given  up  farming  to  engage  in  basket  making,  by  which  they  support 
themselves. 

The  Tuscaroras,  378  in  number,  with  48  Onondagas,  occupy  a  reservation  in 


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THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


Niagara  County,  not  far  from  Suspension  HriclKe.  There  are  about  6,300  acres 
in  the  r^:;crvation,  which  is  fertile.  The  Tuscaroras  are  good  farmers,  and  their 
farms  will  compare  favorably  with  those  of  the  whites  in  the  neighborhood. 
They  arc  by  far  the  most  progressive  of  the  New  York  Indians. 

Only  about  one-third  of  the  children  of  school  age  belonging  to  this  agency 
attend  the  29  schools  furnished  by  the  State  of  New  York  for  their  reservations, 
but  an  improvement  has  been  noticed  within  two  or  three  years  in  this  respect. 
An  Industrial  School  established  in  1854  on  the  Allegany  reservation  by  the 
efforts  of  the  Society  of  I'"riends  in  Philadelphia,  has  a  capacity  of  forty-five. 
There  is  also  an  orphan  asylum  for  Indian  children  on  the  Cattaraugus  reser- 
vation, which  is  supported  by  the  State. 

On  the  whole  it  cannot  be  said  that  the  New  York  Indians  have  made  the 
progress  towards  civilization  which  they  ought  to  have  made.  With  a  few 
exceptions,  they  still  support  themselves  by  occasional  labor,  and  by  the  manu- 
facture of  baskets  and  of  bead  work,  which  they  sell  in  the  summer  to  visitors 
from  other  parts  of  the  country. 

NEZ  PERCltS  AGENCY 

Three  years  ago  the  Nez  Perce  reservation  in  Idaho  ceased  to  exist,  their 
lands  having  been  allotted  in  severalty  to  the  1,639  Indians  who  belong  here. 
While  a  majority  of  the  tribe  wished  and  accepted  their  allotments,  at  least  one- 
third  were  opposed,  and  their  efforts  to  hamper  the  allotting  agent  by  refusing  to 
give  their  names  and  in  other  ways  has  since  occasioned  some  confusion  in 
the  adjustment  of  allotments  and  issuance  of  patents. 

The  Nez  Perces  (Shahaptian)  are  a  fine  people,  earnest,  energetic  and  pro- 
gressive, and  the  country  where  their  allotments  were  made  is  fair  farming 
land,  yielding  good  harvests,  and  not  always  requiring  irrigation.  They  also 
receive  incomes  from  the  leasing  of  their  allotments — largely  to  their  injury. 
An  abundant  supply  of  timber  was  reserved  for  the  benefit  of  the  Indians,  from 
which  they  draw,  at  moderate  expense,  sufificient  lumber  for  their  needs. 

The  surplus  lands  of  the  Indians  having  been  sold  for  cash,  which,  by  the 
terms  of  the  treaty,  shall  be  paid  to  them  in  cash,  these  Indians  are  handicapped 
by  having  too  much  money,  which  many  of  them  squander  as  fait  as  it  is 
received.  Having  become  citizens  of  the  United  States,  by  the  fact  of  having 
received  their  allotments,  and  being  brought  in  close  contact  with  the  whites,  and 
having  plenty  of  money,  it  may  be  readily  imagined  that  the  liquor  traffic  flour- 
ishes among  them.  Efforts  to  secure  the  assistance  of  United  States  deputy 
marshals,  in  breaking  up  the  whisky  trade,  have  proved  futile,  and  it  is  still 
carried  on. 

The  last  report  of  crops  raised  by  these  Indians  shows  that  their  harvest 


THE  RESERVATIONS 


107 


amounted  to  40,000  bushels  of  wheat,  15,000  bushels  of  oats,  barl«?y  and 
rye,  5,000  bushels  of  vegetables,  and  2,000  tons  of  hay.  They  possess  no  less 
than  20,000  head  of  horses,  and  15,000  head  of  cattle,  and  are  among  the  most 
prosperous  Indians  of  the  northwest.  A  railroad  has  recently  been  completed, 
runnin^(  by  the  agency  to  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad,  which  will  greatly  facil- 
itate the  shipping  of  the  Indians'  farm  products  to  a  market. 

Vhere  are  about  .^50  children  of  school  age  among  the  Nez  Perces,  but  the 
school  at  Fort  Lapwai,  which  has  a  capacity  of  175,  has  recently  been  poorly 
attended  and  much  less  interest  than  formerly  is  taken  in  it  by  the  Indians,  who, 
now  that  they  are  citizens,  are  not  easily  induced  to  send  their  children  to  school. 
The  average  attendance  is  only  58.  However,  a  few  Indian  children  have 
lately  been  attending  the  district  schools  established  within  the  boundaries  of 
the  old  Nez  Perce  reservation. 

OMAHA  AND  WINNEBAGO  AGENCY 

This  agency  is  situated  in  northwestern  Nebraska,  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Missouri  River,  and  has  about  2,300  Indians,  about  equally  divided  between 
Omaha  and  Winnebago  (Siouan).  Their  lands  have  been  allotted  to  them  in 
severalty,  but  they  have  leased  many  of  their  allotments  to  white  people  and  are 
not  themselves  doing  nearly  as  much  as  might  be  wished  in  the  way  of  farming. 
The  last  report  states  that  for  the  season  of  1899,  they  raised  12,500  bushels  of 
wheat,  65,000  bushels  of  corn,  and  that  they  then  possessed  about  700  cattle. 
Both  the  Omahas  and  the  Winnebagos  have  long  been  agriculturists,  but  they 
do  not  appear  to  be  making  the  progress  that  they  should. 

There  has  been  one  industrial  boarding  school  for  each  reservation,  one  for 
the  Omahas  and  one  for  the  Winnebagos.  They  have  been  fairly  well  attended. 
The  Winnebago  school  building  was  destroyed  by  fire  during  1898,  which  of 
course  deprives  these  children  of  the  opportunity  to  attend  school.  The  work 
of  replacing  it  is  in  progress.  Many  children  of  both  tribes  attend  schools  off  the 
reservation  and  some  the  public  schools  which  have  been  established  on  the 
reservations. 

These  people  are  fairly  healthy  ;  the  deaths  for  the  year  1898  numbering  86, 
while  the  births  were  138.  In  1899  the  pendulum  has  swung  back  again.  There 
are  a  considerable  number  of  mixed  bloods,  and  just  how  far  this  modifies  the 
death  rate  it  is  difficult  to  say. 


OSAGE  AGENCY 

The  Osage  and  Kaw,  or  Kansa  Indians  (Siouan),  are  situated  on  the  Osage 
and  Kaw  reservations  under  charge  of  a  single  agent.  The  Osages  are  the 
richest  and — in  consideration  of  their  opportunities — the  least  progressive  of  any 


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THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


tribe  in  the  United  States.  Tiiey  occupy  a  reservation  of  1,400.000  acres  of 
land,  lying  in  the  northeast  corner  of  Oklahoma,  adjoining  Kansas  01.  the  north 
and  the  Indian  Territory  on  the  east.  The  reservation,  while  containing  much 
fertile  land  in  the  valleys,  has  still  much  upland  adapted  to  grazing,  and  some 
timber.  It  is  fairly  well  watered.  The  Kansas  reservation  consists  of  loo.cxx) 
acres  of  land,  lying  to  the  west  of  the  Osage  reservation  and  adjoining  it.  There 
are  1,765  of  the  Osages,  of  whom  about  900  are  full  bloods  and  the  remainder 
mixed  bloods.     Of  the  Kaws,  there  are  208,    ico  lieing  full  bloods. 

Much  farming  is  done  on  these  reservations,  which  produce  large  crops,  far 
more  than  enough  to  supply  the  wants  of  all  the  Indians.  Unfortunately, 
however,  farming  is  done,  not  by  the  Indians,  but  by  white  men,  either  as 
tenants  of  the  Indians,  or  as  working  in  their  employ.  Besides  the  crops  which 
they  raise,  the  Indians  have  large  herds  of  domestic  animals.  Their  horses  are 
said  to  number  7,800,  their  cattle  20,000,  their  swine  16,000.  Besides  this,  the 
Osages  receive  for  each  man,  woman  and  child  an  annuity  of  over  $200  in  cash. 
This  means  that  a  family  of  ten  persons  would  receive  $2,000,  and  it  is  hardly  to 
be  expected  that  people  who  are  so  well  to  do  as  these,  would  make  very  much 
effort  toward  self-improvement.  No  people,  whatever  their  color  or  education, 
are  likely  to  work  very  hard  unless  they  have  some  motive  to  do  so.  All  the 
wants  of  the  Osages  being  provided  for,  they  naturally  take  life  as  easily  as 
they  can. 

There  are  601  children  of  school  age  on  these  reservations,  and  of  these 
about  300  attend  the  home  schools.  There  are  two  government  boarding 
schools,  and  two  contract  Catholic  schools  on  the  reservations. 

The  Osages  seem  to  be  slightly  on  the  increase,  and  recently  the  births 
exceed  the  deaths.  The  Kaws  have  steadily  decreased.  On  the  whole  the 
health  of  the  Indians  has  been  good.  As  might  naturally  be  expected  on  a  reser- 
vation situated  as  this  one  is,  the  liquor  traffic  is  a  serious  evil.  Under  the  most 
favorable  circumstances  this  can  only  be  kept  down  by  constant  watchfulness. 


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PIMA    AGENCY 

In  the  midst  of  an  Arizona  desert  are  located  the  Pima,  Papago  (Piman),  and 
Maricopa  (Yuman),  three  desert-inhabiting  tribes,  numbering  in  all  nearly  8,000 
people.  Of  these,  4,260  are  Pimas,  340  Maricopas,  and  the  remaining  3,300 
Papagos.  These  tribes,  all  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Pima  agency,  are 
scattered  about  on  four  different  reservations  in  Arizona,  not  very  far  north  of 
the  Mexican  boundary  line.  A  considerable  portion  of  the  land  which  the  Pimas 
occupy  on  the  Gila  River  reservation  is  susceptible  of  irrigation  from  the  Gila 
River,  and  this  desert,  when  watered,  produces  astonishing  crops.  But  the  water 
supply  for  the  reservation  is  yearly  diminishing  as  white  settlers  above  them 


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THE  RESERVATIONS 


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take  out  more  ?•>(*.  more  water  for  their  own  use.  And  yet,  where  they  have 
water,  they  often  succeed  in  raising  from  thirty  to  forty  bushels  of  wheat  to  the 
acre.  Ths  jrop  for  the  year  1899  is  estimated  at  about  2,000,000  pounds.  An 
adequate  system  of  irrigation,  if  it  could  be  provided  for  these  Indians  without 
too  great  expense,  perhaps  by  means  of  storage  reservoirs,  would  undoubtedly 
result  in  their  continuing  to  be  self-supporting.  As  it  is,  they  cultivated  last  year 
not  far  from  4,000  acres  of  land,  raised  33,000  bushels  of  wheat,  besides  some 
other  grain,  some  vegetables  and  hay.  They  have  only  about  5,000  head  of 
cattle. 

A  few  hundred  Fapagos  support  themselves  fairly  well  upon  the  small  Gila 
Bend  and  San  Xavier  reservations,  where  there  is  a  little  water.  At  San  Xavier 
the  irrigable  lands  have  been  allotted.  The  other  Papagos  are  mostly  nomadic, 
and,  while  raising  small  crops  about  the  springs  by  such  irrigation  as  they  are 
able  to  accomplish,  live  in  large  measure  on  the  products  of  the  desert,  just  as 
their  forefathers  did. 

The  Pima  boarding  school  has  a  capacity  of  150  children,  and  the  attendance 
for  the  year  1899  averaged  177.  Besides  this  attendance,  more  than  fifty  children 
were  turned  away  at  the  beginning  of  the  school  year  for  lack  of  room.  More 
buildings  and  larger  ones  are  required  to  accommodate  the  children  who  are 
willing  to  attend  the  school,  for  the  Indians  of  this  reservation  are  eager  to  have 
their  children  educated.  Here,  as  in  most  other  Indian  schools,  there  is  need 
for  better  sanitary  arrangements  than  exist. 

PINE   RIDGE   AGENCY 

The  Pine  Ridge  reservation  is  in  western  South  Dakota,  the  boundary  line 
between  South  Dakota  and  Nebraska  forming  its  southern  boundary.  It  lies 
immediately  west  of  the  Rosebud  agency.  Here  there  are  no  less  than  6,452 
Sioux  of  various  bands,  together  with  sixty-one  Northern  Cheyennes 
(Algonquian),  who  returned  there  in  1878,  at  the  time  of  the  Dull  Knife 
outbreak.    All  roc      e  regular  rations. 

The  Pine  Ridge  reservation  is  a  stock  country,  and  farming  has  very  wisely 
been  given  up  there.  The  business  of  stock  raising  is  constantly  growing  in 
favor  with  the  Indians,  who  manifest  more  and  more  a  desire  to  obtain  cattle, 
and  a  greater  willingness  to  care  for  them.  Many  of  them  are  extraordinary 
cattle  hands,  and  are  as  competent  to  look  after  stock  as  any  men  in  the  West. 
They  already  possess  more  than  42,000  head  of  cattle,  and  furnish  to  the  agency 
more  than  2,000,000  pounds  of  beef  a  year.  So  great  is  their  interest  in  their 
herds,  that  nearly  all  the  Indians  and  mixed  bloods  who  are  large  owners  of 
cattle,  recently  formed  a  stock  association  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  brands, 
exterminating  wolves,  and  for  other  common  benefits.    The  entire  reservation, 


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THE   INDIANS  OF   TO-UAY 


II     I 


however,  cannot  produce  grass  and  hay  enough  to  make  the  Indians  self- 
supporting  by  stock  raising. 

No  allotments  of  land  have  been  made  on  this  reservation,  and  this  is  as  it 
should  be  in  almost  all  cases  where  a  tribe  of  Indians  has  gone  into  the  cattle 
business. 

The  health  of  these  Indians  is  fairly  good,  and  they  seem  to  be  increasing; 
births  in  1S98  exceeding  deaths  by  sixty-six.  This  satisfactory  condition  of  things 
is  largely  attributed  to  the  increasing  confidence  of  the  Indians  in  the  agency 
physicians,  to  whom  they  are  coming  to  apply  more  and  more.  There  are  but 
two  of  these  physicians  to  attend  to  the  wants  of  6,500  people  scattered  over  a 
very  large  tract  of  country.  There  is  far  too  much  work  for  any  two  men  to  per- 
form, and  the  number  of  physicians  stationed  at  Pine  Ridge  ought  to  be  doubled 
or  trebled. 

There  are  one  government  boarding  school  and  thirty-one  day  schools  on 
this  reservation,  and  one  contract  boarding  school  with  134  pupils.  The 
government  boarding  school  has  a  capacity  for  200  pupils,  and  had  an  enrollment 
for  the  year  of  207;  average  atiandance,  178.  In  the  day  schools  there  were 
enrolled  920  pupils,  with  the  average  attendance  of  over  700.  Of  the  1,570 
children  of  school  age  here,  1,387  are  reported  as  having  attended  school 
somewhere.  Probably  no  other  reservation  occupied  by  any  considerable  number 
of  Indians  can  show  such  a  record. 

The  Pine  Ridge  agency  has  been  under  the  charge  of  Major  VV.  H.  Clapp, 
U.  S.  A.,  and  the  progress  of  the  Indians  here  is  unquestionably  largely  due  to 
his  energy  and  good  judgment. 


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PONCA,   PAWNEE  AND  OTO  AGENCY 

Under  this  agency,  at  four  sub-agencies,  are  the  Ponca,  of  Siouan  stock, 
numbering  567,  the  Pawnee,  of  Caddoan  stock,  numbering  664,  the  Oto  and 
Missouria,  of  Siouan  stock,  numbering  364,  and  the  Tonkawa,  numbering  56. 
Some  years  ago  their  lands  were  allotted  in  severalty  to  the  Poncas,  Pawnees 
and  Otos  and  the  outcome  has  been  most  unfortunate  for  them.  They  are 
surrounded  by  white  people,  and  have  been  induced  to  lease  their  lands  to  them, 
with  the  result  that  the  Indians  now  camp  in  little  groups  on  unoccupied  lands, 
and  instead  of  improving  are  really  going  back  to  their  primitive  conditions. 
Besides  this,  whisky  drinking  has  become  very  common  among  them,  and  the 
Indians  have  no  difficulty  in  procuring  as  much  liquor  as  they  wish.  Public 
opinion  does  not  condemn  the  sale  of  liquor  to  the  Indians  who  are  now  citizens. 

A  few  of  the  Poncas  are  doing  a  little  farming,  but  most  of  them  have 
distinctly  retrograded  since  they  took  their  lanfis  in  severalty.  The  same  is 
true,  but  to  a  considerably  greater  extent,  with  the  Pawnees  and  the  Otos.     The 


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THE  RESERVATIONS 


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latter,  however,  never  consented  to  take  their  lands  in  severalty  until  after  they 
had  been  assigned  to  them. 

The  Tonkawa  Indians  located  on  this  reservation  are  aH  that  remain  of  the 
tribe  that  was  once  of  some  importance.  Their  lands  are  generally  leased  to 
white  farmers,  and  the  rent  received  is  sufficient  for  their  support. 

At  the  Pawnee  Agency  there  is  a  boarding  school,  which  most  of  the  children 
attend.  They  are  bright  and  are  faithful  workers  in  the  class  room  and  on  the 
school  farm.  The  school  at  Ponca  has  an  average  attendance  of  go  out  of  135 
children  of  school  age.  The  Oto  school  has  an  average  attendance  of  70  out 
of  104  children.  The  school  conditions  on  these  reservations  are  very  much 
better  than  would  be  expected. 

POTTAWATOMI  AND  GREAT  NEMAHA  AGENCY 

Under  this  agency  are  located  six  tribes.  These  are  the  Prairie  band  of 
Pottawatomis  569,  Kickapoo  246,  Sac  and  Fox  of  Missouri  78,  Munsee  and 
Chippewa  88  (all  Algonquian),  and  Iowa  230  (Siouan),  a  total  of  1,211.  They 
occupy  different  small  reservations — ranging  in  size  from  77,000  acres,  in  Jackson 
County,  Kansas,  for  the  Pottawatomis,  down  to  4,400  acres  in  Franklin 
County,  Kansas,  for  the  Munsee  and  Chippewa — chiefly  in  Kansas,  though  the 
Sac  and  Fox  reservation  extends  into  Richardson  County,  Nebraska.  Their 
lands  have  been  allotted  to  them  with  the  too  frequent  accompaniment  of  trouble 
with  white  lessees,  and  imposition  on,  and  dissatisfaction  by,  the  Indians.  The 
Indian  sells  the  use  of  his  land,  and  receives  for  it  a  percentage  of  what  the  lease 
is  worth. 

Most  of  these  Indians  are  well  supplied  with  live  stock  and  farming  imple- 
ments. They  live  in  a  farming  country,  their  land  being  well  adapted  to  the 
production  of  corn,  wheat,  oats,  potatoes,  and  all  kinds  of  vegetables.  They 
raise  very  considerable  crops,  having  harvested  last  year  about  5,000  bushels  of 
wheat,  as  many  of  oats,  100,000  bushels  of  corn,  with  great  quantities  of 
vegetables,  and  six  thousand  tons  of  hay. 

These  people  have  made  considerable  progress  in  civilization,  and  are 
industrious  and  law-abiding.  There  are  360  good  houses  occupied  by  Indians, 
and  many  of  them  are  quite  as  good  as  those  of  neighboring  white  farmers, 
and  are  often  as  well  furnished  and  as  well  kept.  The  occupation  of  such  a 
house  not  only  brings  about  the  abandonment  of  many  of  the  old  savage  customs, 
but  involves  also  great  improvement  in  many  of  the  ordinary  ways  of  life,  which 
conduces  to  the  comfort  and  the  elevation  of  all. 

Intemperance  has  caused  much  trouble  on  these  reservations,  but  of  late  it 
is  said  to  be  under  better  control. 


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THE  INDIANS  OF    lO-DAY 


The  Munsee  and  Chippewa  and  a  considerable  number  of  Kickapoo  Indians 
are  Christians,  as  are  also  some  of  the  Prairie  band  of  the  I'ottawatomis. 

The  children  of  school  ajje  number  338,  of  whom  an  unusually  large  per- 
centage attend  school;  156  the  three  schools  on  the  reservations  and  many 
other  schools  away  from  home. 

PUEBLO  AGENCY 

The  different  Pueblo  towns  are,  most  of  them,  in  New  Mexico.  There  are 
twenty  of  these  occupied  by  about  9,000  Indians,  representing  several  distinct 
lii'guistic  stocks,  and  classed  together  only  because  they  have  a  common  mode 
of  life,  and  reside  in  permanent  towns. 

These  people  are  self-supporting,  and  from  primitive  times  have  been 
farmers,  always  practicing  irrigation.  At  present  they  cultivate  many  thousand 
acres  of  land,  and  jjossess  large  herds  of  sheep,  goats,  horses,  donkeys  and  cattle. 
They  raise  wheat,  corn,  vegetables  and  fruit;  not  only  enough  for  themselves, 
but  for  sale  to  the  neighboring  white  population.  They  are  industrious  and 
devote  all  their  time  to  looking  after  their  crops,  keeping  their  irrigating  ditches 
in  good  order,  and  caring  for  their  herds.  They  still  practice  the  primitive 
methods  of  farming  that  have  come  down  to  them  from  early  times;  threshing 
their  wheat  by  placing  the  straw  on  the  ground  and  driving  horses  and  donkeys 
over  it  until  the  grain  has  been  trodden  out;  winnowing  it  by  gathering  it  in 
baskets,  and  throwing  it  up  into  the  air,  and  finally  washing  it  in  water.  These 
methods,  of  course,  lessen  the  value  of  the  grain,  and  reduce  its  price  when 
sold.  They  would  readily  learn  to  use  threshing  machines,  if  these  were  fuvnished 
to  them. 

Besides  their  farming,  these  Indians  are  expert  blanket  wcc  vers  and  makers 
of  baskets  and  pottery.  Some  of  the  blankets  woven  by  the  Zuni  equal  the  best 
Navajo  blankets;  while  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  pottery  is  an  established 
industry  which  each  year  brings  in  a  considerable  amount  of  money.  Besides 
this,  numbers  of  these  Indians  are  good  mechanics,  and  many  others  work  on 
the  railroad.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  with  a  little  guidance  and  with  protection 
from  trespass  most  of  the  Pueblos  are  quite  beyond  the  reach  of  want.  Some 
of  the  smaller  villages,  however,  suffer  greatly  from  lack  of  water. 

Although  there  are  sixteen  government  day  schools,  three  government 
boarding  schools,  one  contract  boarding  school,  and  one  mission  day  school, 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  this  agency,  the  school  conditions  are  very  unsatis- 
factory. The  Indians  of  some  of  the  pueblos  absolutely  refuse  to  send  their 
children  to  the  schools,  while  in  other  villages  the  attendance  is  very  small. 
Thus  at  Acoma  the  average  attendance  of  the  children  is  only  ten  per  cent  of  the 
school  population,  while  at  Zuiii,  out  of  nearly  300  children  of  school  age,  only 


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Jul  IX   IIOl.l.OW  HORN  BKAR 

CHEYENNE  RIVER  SIOUX 


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THE  RESERVATIONS 


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forty-four  attend  the  school.  For  the  whole  agency  the  average  attendance  is 
only  forty  per  cunt,  of  the  children  of  school  a^e.  This  should  hr.  renurdied,  and 
probably  could  be  by  the  exercise  of  good  judgment  on  the  part  of  the  agent  in 
charge.  The  Pueblo  people,  whil  ,•  often  very  obstinate,  are  very  much  disposed 
to  be  obedient  to  command,  and  a  judicious  mingling  of  authority,  explanation 
and  inte'est  would  overcome  the  reluctance  of  the  Indians  to  the  attendance  of 
their  children.  The  appointment  of  a  superintendent  of  schools  for  the  I'ueblo 
agency  has  already  shown  good  results  in  a  better  attendance. 

The  school  conditions  of  the  various  settlements  are  briefly  as  follows: 

ACOMA.     (Keresan.) 

Number  of  school  children,  200;  average  attendance,  jo;  school  building  a 
substantial  one. 

COCHITf.     (Keresan.) 

Number  of  children  of  school  age,  93;  average  attendance,  15.99;  school  building 
inadequate,  and  in  all  respects  unfit  for  the  purpose ;  rented. 

ISLET  A.     (Tailoan.) 

School  population,  itt;  average  attendance,  22;  school  house  is  a  rented 
building,  unfit  for  the  purpose,  adjoining  a  graveyard,  where  smallpox  victims 
have  been  bulled  for  many  years,  and  which  is  still  used  us  a  burying  ground. 

JEMEZ.     (Tafloan.) 

School  population,  131;  average  attendance,  29,  all  the  building  will  hold ;  school 
is  conducted  in  a  rented  building,  which  is  in  good  condition. 

LAGUNA.     (Keresan.) 

School  population,  84;  average  attendance,  20;  school  is  held  in  a  building 
belonging  to  the  Indians  and  entirely  inadequate.  Smallpox  prevailed  and  the 
school  was  closed  for  several  months. 

PICURIS.     (Tafloan.) 

School  population,  23;  average  attendance,  12.66. 

PAHUATE.     (Keresan.) 

Children  of  school  age,  125;  average  attendance,  14.10;  school  is  held  in  a  rented 
building  in  fairly  good  condition,  but  too  small  for  the  purpose. 

SANTA  CLARA.     (Tafloan.) 

Children  of  school  age,  74;  average  attendance,  18;  the  school  building,  rented 
from  the  Indians. 

SAN  FELIPE.     (Keresan.) 

School  population,  96;  average  attendance,  25.35;  school  is  conducted  in  a  rented 
building  belonging  to  the  Indians,  without  fioor  and  without  any  proper  equipment. 

SAN  JUAN.     (Tafloan.) 

School  population,  85;  average  attendance,  18.15;  school  is  held  in  a  part  of  the 
church  and  has  proper  equipment;  50  children  attend  non-reservation  schools. 


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114 


THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


NAMnR.     (Tnfionn.) 

Schuul  population,  a6;  average  attendance,  16.9a;  all  the  children  of  the  village 
are  enrolled. 

PARAJE.     (Kcresan.) 

School  population,  45;  average  attendance,  28.55. 

SANTO  DOMINCiO.     (Kcresan.) 

School  population,  ji8;  average  attendance,  ao.  14;  school  it  held  in  a  rented 
building  and  is  attended  only  by  boys. 

SAN  ILDEFONSO.     (Tanoan.) 

School  population,  4,?;  average  attendance,  35.69;  school  is  held  in  a  building 
rented  from  an  Indian.  It  is  in  a  very  satisfactory  condition.  Seven  other 
children  are  at  school  at  Santc  Fd. 

TAOS.     (Tanoan.) 

The  school  population  is  78;  average  attendance,  34.39;  school  is  held  in  a  building 
rented  from  a  priest  at  Taos,  and  there  is  practically  no  equipment.  The  agent 
reported  in  1898,  "The  roof  leaks  and  the  doors  and  windows  are  not  well  fitted, 
which  makes  it  cold  in  winter.  The  school  is  dependent  on  the  children  bringing 
one  stick  of  wood  apiece  each  morning  for  fuel." 

ZIA.     (Kcresan.) 

In  this  pueblo,  all  the  children  of  school  age  attend  a  school  held  in  a  building 
which  is  rented  from  an  Indian.  The  condition  of  this  building  is  disgraceful. 
It  has  a  dirt  floor,  very  little  light,  and  is  unventilated.  The  water  which 
supplies  it  is  "so  alkaline  as  to  be  actually  poisonous."  They  have  deeded  land 
to  the  government  for  a  site  for  a  good  building. 

ZU5}I.     (Zufiian.) 

Children  of  school  age,  295 ;  average  attendance,  44.  This  school  plant  is 
owned  by  the  government.  The  buildings  are  very  much  out  of  repair,  and  are 
in  an  altogether  unsatisfactory  condition.  The  pueblo  was  ravaged  by  smallpox 
in  the  winter  of  1898-99. 

At  the  pueblos  of  Sandia,  Santa  Ana  and  Tesuque,  there  are  no  schools, 
though  efforts  are  being  made  to  secure  these  for  all  of  them.  In  i8q8,  the 
agent  reported  that  many  of  the  schools  were  absolutely  without  conveniences 
of  any  kind,  some  having  as  furniture  only  rickety  benches.  This  condition  of 
things  has  been  in  part  remedied.  It  is,  perhaps,  not  strange  that  the  Pueblos 
are  unwilling  to  send  their  children  to  school,  when  the  school  conditions  are 
what  they  are.  At  many  schools  a  mid-day  meal  is  furnished  the  children.  It 
must  be  remembered,  in  connection  with  the  school  attendance,  that  the  Pueblo 
children  from  the  age  of  six  or  eight  years  upward  are  expected  to  be  of  some 
service  in  the  fields  or  in  the  house;  also  that  as  the  Indians  hold  their  pueblos 
by  grants  from  Spain,  the  government  has  no  right  to  put  up  buildings  on  their 


THE   RESERVATIONS 


115 


lands.  Four  pueblos  have  deeded,  or  are  about  to  deed,  sites  to  the  government, 
upon  which  suitable  buildings  can  be  erected.  The  Albuquerque  and  Santa  Fe 
schools  have  acx)  Pueblo  children. 

PUYALLUP  CONSOLIDATED  AGENCY 

This  agency,  now  under  the  superintendent  of  the  Puyallup  school,  covers 
these  tribes:  Fuyallup,  555;  Chehalis,  163;  S'Kokcmish,  206;  Quinaielt,  185; 
Nisqually,  106;  Squaxin,  113;  Clallam,  321;  Shoalwater,  no;  Humtulip,  iq,  and  is 
in  northwestern  Washington,  on  Puget  Sound.  All  these  are  Salishan.  In 
addition  to  these  tribes,  there  are  other  related  Indians  scattered  throughout 
the  country,  making  the  total  number  2,500.  Allotments  have  been  made  to 
all  these  tribes  except  the  Shoalwaters  and  the  Quinaielt,  and  the  Indians  live 
upon  them. 

There  are  five  day  schools  and  one  government  boarding  school  and  one 
mission  boarding  school,  accommodating  about  450  children,  but  the  average 
attendance  at  the  six  government  schools  is  only  245,  while  there  are  nearly  500 
children  of  school  age. 

There  are  about  2,750  acres  of  land  under  cultivation,  which,  during  the  last 
year,  yielded  about  1 1,000  bushels  of  grain,  and  over  31,000  bushels  of  vegetables, 
with  1,800  tons  of  hay.    The  Indians  own  a  few  cattle. 

Practically  all  these  Indians  live  in  houses,  of  one  sort  or  another,  and  wear 
civilized  dress. 

QUAPAW  AGENCY 

Under  the  Quapaw  Agency,  in  the  northeastern  corner  of  the  Indian 
Territory,  are  located  eight  different  tribes.  These  are:  the  344  Wyandot,  329 
Seneca  (both  Iroquoian),  252  Quapaw  (Siouan),  184  Peoria,  101  Miami,  165 
Ottawa,  93  Eastern  Shawnee  (all  Algonquian),  and  51  Modoc  (Lutuamian). 

These  Indians  have  A\  had  lands  allotted  to  them,  and  some  tribes  still  have 
surplus  unallotted  lands.  They  are  well  advanced  toward  civilization,  and  in 
attire,  behavior  and  habits  compare  not  unfavorably  with  an  ordinary  white 
community.  They  raise  large  crops,  and  possess  some  live  stock.  Of  course, 
they  retain  and  still  practice  many  of  their  ancient  religious  and  other 
ceremonies,  all  of  which  are  entirely  harmless. 

As  is  the  case  with  many  tribes  to  which  lands  have  been  allotted  and  where 
they  have  been  permitted  to  lease  or  sell  their  lands,  the  ownership  of  these 
lands  in  severalty  has  proved  very  harmful  to  the  Indians,  often  an  actual  curse. 
Permitted  to  lease  their  lands,  they  often  exchange  the  right  to  use  them  for  the 
merest  trifle.  They  take  little  thought  for  the  future,  and  if  for  any  special 
reason  they  require  money,  even  though  the  amount  be  only  small,  they  will 


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THK   INDIANS  OF  TO-PAY 


•acrificr  tlu'ir  land  to  prociirt;  this  simt.  The  inaliility  to  r«'a<I  and  write,  of 
course,  puts  tlicMi  at  a  ^roat  disadvantat;r  in  ail  busim-bs  dealings,  and  they  uru 
thus  constantly  imposed  on  l)y  their  white  neighbtjrs. 

The  law  allows  some  of  the  tribes  to  sell  portions  of  their  allotments,  and 
when  this  takes  place  they  are,  of  course,  swindled.  Moreover,  as  a  rule,  this 
imposition  on  the  Indians  is  carried  on  under  Iey;al  forms,  .ind  no  punishnu^nt  is 
visited  on  those  guilty  of  it.  The  Indian  who  sells  his  allotment,  as  a  rule, 
squanders  the  money  that  he  receives  for  it  in  just  as  short  a  time  as  he  parted 
with  the  sn\aller  sum  he  receiv;:d  for  his  lease.  Besides  this,  the  Indians  beinn 
usually  in  debt  in  anticipation  of  such  a  sale,  a  greater  portion  of  the  purchase 
price  is  claimed  by  the  creditors.  The  Senecas  and  the  liastern  .Shawnees  alone 
receive  annuities.  To  the  Senecas  nine  dollars  per  capita  is  paid  each  year, 
while  the  Eastern  Shawnees  receive  about  five  dollars.  This  money  is  spent  long 
before  it  is  received,  and  instead  of  beinK  a  benefit  is  a  positive  injury. 

The  at^ency  is  situated  in  a  splendid  farming  country,  where  great  crops 
should  be  raised  by  the  Indians,  but  owing  to  the  way  in  which  they  have  been 
allowed  to  dispose  of  their  land,  much  of  it  is  being  cultivated  by  white  men,  and 
but  little  by  the  Indians  The  net  result  here  of  the  allotting  of  the  Indian's  land 
has  been  to  put  him  in  a  position  where  he  could  not  work  even  if  he  would. 

Of  the  458  children  of  school  age  on  these  reservations,  214  are  reported  as 
having  attended  the  boarding  schools  during  the  year  1898-99.  A  few  attend 
schools  off  the  reservation. 

ROSEBUD  AOENCY 

The  Rcsebud  reservation  is  in  South  Dakota,  and  is  bounded  on  the  south 
by  Nebraska,  on  the  west  by  Pine  Ridge  Agency,  and  on  the  east  by  the  Missouri 
River,  while  the  Big  White  River  forms  its  northern  boundary.  It  is  one  of  the 
large  reservations,  and  contains  about  3,228,000  acres  of  land.  It  is  occupied  by 
4,862  Indians  belonging  to  different  bands  of  Sioux,  chiefly  Brules.  The  lands 
have  in  pa*-!  been  allotted,  and  the  number  of  allotments  made  is  3,189.  Ail  the 
land  is  allotted  as  grazing  land,  for  the  amount  adapted  to  agriculture  on  this 
reservation  is  very  small,  it  being  like  most  of  the  South  Dakota  reservations, 
purely  a  stock  raising  country,  and  therefore  subject  to  trespass  from  herds 
belonging  to  white  men.  During  1899,  8,000  head  of  trespassing  stock  were 
removed  from  the  reservation,  a  large  proportion  of  which  "drifted"  back  again. 
The  attempt  to  raise  crops  has  been  almost  altogether  abandoned,  although  a 
few  of  the  Indians  plant  small  garden  patches  in  damp  ground,  without,  however, 
raising  any  crops  that  repay  their  efforts.  Stock  raising  is  profitably  carried  on, 
and  these  people  possess  about  20,000  head  of  cattle,  from  which,  during  the 
fiscal  year  1898,  the  Indians  furnished  the  government  1,385,000  pounds  of  beef, 


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THE  RESERVATIONS 


117 


for  which  they  received  $44,000.  Their  earnings  in  other  respects  are 
considerable.  The  wood  contract  alone  brought  them  over  $3,000,  the  hay 
contract  nearly  $2,000,  and  their  freighting  more  than  $10,000.  Besides  this 
they  shipped  to  Eastern  markets  about  1,000  head  of  cattle,  which  brought  them 
in  about  $35,000. 

If  we  except  the  general  tendency  to  tuberculosis,  the  health  of  these 
Indians  is  fairly  good,  but  in  view  of  the  great  area  of  the  reservation  and  the 
large  population,  the  force  of  physicians  employed  here  is  too  small.  The 
number  of  deaths  reported  for  the  year  1899  was  154,  while  the  births  numbered 
114.  On  the  whole,  the  condition  of  the  Rosebud  Sioux  is  very  satisfactory.  An 
epidemic  of  measles  prevailed  this  year. 

There  are  one  government  and  two  mission  boarding  schools  on  this 
reservation,  with  the  average  attendance  of  184,  206  and  90  respectively. 
Besides  this,  there  are  nineteen  day  schools,  at  which  the  attendance  averaged 
about  twenty-four.  In  all,  893  scholars  have  attended  school.  Both  boarding  and 
day  schools  do  good  work,  and  are  greatly  assisting  the  progress  of  the  people 
in  civilization. 


ROUND  VALLEY  AGENCY 

Six  small  tribes,  known  as  Concow  (Pujunan)  164,  Little  Lake  and  Red 
Wood  (Kulanapan)  116,  Ukie  (Yukian)  and  Wylackie  (Athapaskan)  288,  and 
Pitt  River  and  Nomelackie  (Copehan)  73,  a  total  of  641  Indians,  are  located  at 
this  reservation,  which  is  near  Covelo,  in  northern  California,  These  people  are 
to  a  considerable  extent  civilized,  and  cultivated  in  1898  about  25,000  acres  of  land, 
from  which  they  raise  wheat,  oats,  barley,  corn  and  vegetables,  and  considerable 
crops  of  hay.  They  have  a  good  start  in  cattle,  about  3,000  head,  besides  some 
swine.  Their  lands  are,  in  part,  allotted  to  them,  in  individual  holdings,  and 
they  may  be  considered  as  virtually  self-supporting.  Like  many  of  the  coast 
tribes,  they  are  careless  and  improvident,  and  this  is  shown  especially  in  the  way 
in  which  they  neglect  the  farming  machinery  issued  to  them.  On  the  other 
hand,  experience  shows  that  when  these  Indians  purchase  a  tool  for  themselves, 
they  care  for  and  protect  it.  The  inference  is,  either  that  they  do  not  regard 
tools  issued  to  them  by  the  government  as  belonging  to  them,  or  else  believe 
that  it  is  not  worth  their  while  to  take  care  of  such  implements,  because  when 
they  are  worn  out  others  will  be  issued  to  them.  It  often  seems  to  be  the 
fact  with  Indians  that  they  set  slight  value  on  articles  issued  them  by  the 
government,  while  jealously  guarding  those  that  they  have  purchased  with  their 
own  money. 

Considerable  trouble  is  had  on  this  agency  from  the  sale  of  liquor  to  Indians 
by  white   people.     Within   a   year  or   two,  a  number  of  offenders  have  been 


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THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


arrested,  and  held  to  answer  before  the  United  States  Court.  Adjacent  whites 
also  systematically  steal  the  Indians'  stock,  and  the  Indians  have  no  redress. 
Arrests  of  such  criminals  have  been  made  within  a  year  or  two,  and  they  have 
been  bound  over. 

The  younger  Indians  among  these  people  are  making  much  progress. 
Many  of  them  have  good  houses,  and  plenty  of  stock,  and  are  doing  remarkably 
well. 

The  Round  Valley  boarding  school  has  a  capacity  of  70,  and  an  average 
attendance  of  59. 

The  Round  Valley  agency  has  recently  been  done  away  with,  the  Indians 
being  now  under  the  charge  of  a  school  superintendent. 

SAC  AND  FOX  AGENCY  (OKLAHOMA) 

Several  different  tribes  are  gathered  together  under  the  Sac  and  Fox 
Agency  in  Oklahoma  Territory.  They  occupy  what  were  formerly  the  Sac  and 
Fox  and  Pottawatomi  reservations,  lying  just  west  of  the  Creek  Reservation 
in  the  Indian  Territory  and  south  of  the  Pawnee  Reservation.  There  are  528 
Sacs  and  F'oxes,  1,618  Citizen  Pottawatomis,  507  Absentee  Shawnees,  and  88 
lowas.  All  of  these,  except  the  lowas,  of  Siouan  stock,  are  Algonquian.  All 
have  received  their  allotments  in  severalty  and  several  of  the  tribes  appear  to 
have  taken  hold  of  farming  in  good  faith  and  to  be  doing  fairly  well.  In  each 
one  of  the  tribes,  however,  there  is  a  small  section  which  declines  to  do  any  work 
and  is  distinctly  non-progressive.  A  number  of  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  are 
becoming  farmers,  but  they  are  hampered  by  large  annuities.  The  Absentee 
Shawnees  and  the  Citizen  Pottawatomis  have  taken  hold  in  most  praiseworthy 
fashion,  and  many  of  them  are  doing  exceedingly  well.  The  lowas  as  a  rule 
lease  their  lands,  do  nothing,  and  dnnk  heavily,  but  send  their  children  to 
school. 

In  1894  Congress  passed  a  law  permitting  the  Shawnees  and  Pottawatomis 
to  sell  all  their  allotted  lands  in  excess  of  80  acres;  this  act  was  most  unfortunate 
for  the  Indians,  and  leads  to  their  being  swindled  in  a  variety  of  ways.  The 
Indian  has  no  use  for  money  except  to  spend  it,  and  within  a  very  short  time 
after  he  has  sold  his  80  acres,  even  if  he  has  received  full  value  for  it,  the  money 
has  been  expended  for  drink  and  for  trifles  of  all  sorts.  Moreover  these 
Indians  are  now  taxed  on  the  improvements  on  their  property,  and  at  so  high 
a  rate  that  in  many  cases  the  taxes  amount  to  more  than  the  cash  rental 
received  for  the  land.  The  action  of  Congress  and  of  the  local  authorities  has 
been  such  as  to  place  every  conceivable  barrier  in  the  way  of  their  advancement. 

There  are  two  schools  for  these  Indians — the  Absentee  Shawnee,  which  has 
an  average  attendance  of  86  out  of  150  children  of  school  age,  and  the  Sac  and 


ill 


THE  RESERVATIONS 


IIQ 


Fox  school,  with  an  attendance  of  73.  The  Citizen  Pottawatomis  have  one 
contract  school,  attended  by  34  children.  Many  children  of  these  tribes  are 
educated  at  non-reservation  industrial  schools. 

A  band  of  167  Absentee  Shawnees,  known  as  the  Big  Jim  band,  and  234 
Mexican  Kickapoos  have  recently  been  severed  from  the  Sac  and  Fox  Agency 
and  placed  under  a  special  agent.  The  opposition  of  these  Shawnees  to  allot- 
ment led  them  to  leave  the  rest  of  the  tribe  and  abandon  their  good  homes  and 
well  cultivated  fields  and  settle  on  inferior  lands  along  Little  River.  They  were 
not,  however,  able  to  escape  allotment  in  their  new  location  and  they  are  unhappy 
and  discouraged.  The  Mexican  Kickapoos  were  also  forcibly  allotted  and  their 
surplus  lands  thrown  open  to  settlement  in  1895.  Recently  they  have  adjusted 
themselves  to  the  inevitable  and  are  beginning  to  improve  their  allotments  with 
houses  and  cultivated  fields. 


SAC   AND   FOX  AGENCY  (IOWA) 

The  Sac  and  Fox  (Algonquian)  Agency  is  situated  in  Talma  County,  Iowa. 
Between  1857  and  1896,  the  Sac  and  Fox  in  Iowa  have  purchased  out  of  their 
own  funds  thirty-three  small  tracts  of  land  aggregating  about  3,oocj  acres,  for 
which  trust  deeds  were  given  either  to  the  Governor  of  Iowa  or  to  the  Indian 
agent.  In  i8q6  the  Legislature  of  Iowa  ceded  to  the  Federal  Government  its 
jurisdiction  over  these  Indians  and  their  lands  They  have  taken  care  of  them- 
selves, and  until  recently  have  given  little  heed  to  the  government  or  to  its 
agents.  These  Indians  have  been  noted  for  their  stubborn  refusal  to  civilize 
themselves  or  to  school  their  children.  They  have  tenaciously  held  to  their 
old  customs  while  surrounded  by  Iowa  civilization,  except  as  they  have  bought 
and  paid  for  lands  like  white  people.  But  the  tribe  has  done  this  out  of  the 
tribal  fund.  It  has  not  been  done  by  individuals.  There  is  no  other  tribe  so 
circumstanced. 

Most  of  their  land  is  good  bottom  land  on  the  Iowa  River,  and,  although  it 
is  only  within  a  few  years  that  the  Indians  have  taken  hold  of  farming  with  any 
energy,  they  are  succeeding  very  well.  In  1899  they  raised  1,300  bushels  of 
wheat,  5,500  bushels  of  oats,  and  8,000  bushels  of  corn,  together  with  large 
quantities  of  vegetables,  chiefly  potatoes  and  pumpkins.  As  yet  they  have  little 
or  no  live  stock.  Each  Indian  farms  on  his  own  account,  and  receives  for 
himself  the  rewards  of  his  own  labor.  This  gives  him  a  direct  return  for  his 
work,  which,  after  all,  is  the  incentive  that  leads  all  men  to  work. 

These  Indians  still  retain  their  old-time  dress  and  wear  their  hair  long. 
They  do  not  occupy  houses,  but  in  winter  still  live  in  the  old-fashioned  round- 
topped  huts,  consisting  of  a  frame  of  poles  covered  with  mats  woven  from  reeds 
and  grass.    It  is  said  that  the  people  on  this  reservation  are  the  Foxes  of  the  old 


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THE  INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


Sac  and  Fox  tribe,  and  that  there  are  among  them  no  Sacs,  except  perhaps  a 
few  that  have  recently  come  up  from  Oklahoma  to  live  with  them. 

It  is  greatly  to  be  desired  that  the  area  of  their  lands  might  be  largely 
increased;  as  it  stands  at  present,  it  is  not  large  enough  to  support  the  420 
Indians  who  reside  on  it.  As  the  tribe  takes  more  and  more  to  work  and  brings 
more  land  under  cultivation,  they  will  inevitably  become  very  much  crowded, 
and  will  have  to  face  new  and  entirely  unnecessary  difficulties. 

These  Indians  pay  taxes  to  the  State,  though  the  amount  is  less  than  that 
paid  by  white  citizens  on  property  of  the  same  valuation. 

Notwithstanding  their  intense  opposition  to  schools,  a  boarding  school  was 
provided  for  them  last  year,  which  secured  an  enrollment  of  fifty  pupils,  twenty 
being  orphans  placed  in  school  by  order  of  the  court. 

SAN  CARLOS  AGENCY 


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Under  the  San  Carlos  Agency  in  Arizona,  are  2,200  Apaches  (Athapaskan) 
and  700  Mojaves  (Yuman),  besides  which  there  are  two  settlements  of  Apaches, 
each  numbering  about  300  individuals,  who  formerly  belonged  to  this  reservation, 
but  were  permitted  to  move  away  several  years  ago  and  have  since  supported 
themselves.  As  with  most  of  the  Arizona  reservations,  the  San  Carlos  is 
absolutely  arid,  and  crops  cannot  be  raised  without  irrigation.  There  is  water 
enough  on  the  reservation,  and  land  enough  to  be  irrigated,  if  an  adequate 
system  of  ditches  should  be  constructed  to  provide  water  for  them.  Moreover, 
the  Indians  are  very  anxious  to  grow  crops  for  themselves;  but,  under  present 
conditions,  their  progress  toward  self-support  must  necessarily  be  slow,  and 
government  rations  must  be  continued.  Many  of  them  have  secured  employ- 
ment in  the  construction  of  a  neighboring  railway,  and  others  work  in  the 
town,  and  show  a  disposition  to  earn  money  by  labor,  and  to  save  what  they 
earn.  They  have  about  1,900  head  of  cattle  and  should  be  encouraged  to  take 
care  of  and  make  the  most  of  this  small  herd. 

As  is  so  often  the  case,  the  Apaches  show  themselves  more  industrious  and 
energetic  than  their  neighbors  of  other  bloods.  It  was  these  Apaches  who 
furnished  the  Indian  scouts,  through  whose  assistance  the  wars  in  Arizona  were 
brought  to  an  end,  and  these  same  people  are  now  proving  themselves  as 
successful  in  the  arts  of  peace  as  they  were  in  war. 

There  are  over  800  children  of  school  age  on  this  reservation  and  there  is  a 
boarding  school  with  a  capacity  of  100.  The  average  attendance  for  the  past 
year  has  been  loi,  crowded  into  buildings  most  of  which  are  dilapidated  and 
some  positively  unsafe.  New  buildings  to  accommodate  150  are  now  in  course  of 
construction.     Among  the  older  Indians  there  is  at  present  comparatively  little 


si.i;i;i'iN(;  bi'.ar 

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THE  RESERVATIONS 


121 


active  opposition  to  the  school,  and  the  attendance  could  readily  be  quadrupled, 
yet  owing  to  the  lack  of  proper  facilities  only  about  one  child  in  eight  can  be 
received. 

SANTEE   AGENCY 

The  Santee  Agency  is  in  northeastern  Nebraska,  and  has  charge  of  three 
tribes  known  as  Santee  Sioux,  numbering  over  1,000,  the  Flandreau  Sioux  about 
300,  also  Santee,  and  the  Ponca  (Siouan),  numbering  227.  The  Poncas  are  at  the 
sub-agency  to  the  west  of  the  Santee  agency,  while  the  Flandreau  Santees  are 
in  South  Dakota. 

Like  much  of  the  land  in  north  Nebraska  and  South  Dakota,  that  of  the 
Santees  is  but  doubtfully  adapted  to  agriculture.  Corn  is  successfully  raised, 
but  wheat  is  often  destroyed  by  hot  winds  which  ruin  it  before  it  has  time  to 
mature.  This  is  a  country  where  stock  raising  may  profitably  be  combined 
with  agriculture,  if  the  Indians  are  to  become  self-supporting. 

The  people  have  received  their  lands  in  severalty  and  many  of  them 
wish  to  lease  their  lands  to  the  whites,  but  their  agent  has  wisely  discouraged 
this,  taking  the  ground  that  if  the  Indians  are  to  become  self-supporting  and 
independent  citizens,  they  must  learn  to  support  themselves  by  practicing  the 
industries  on  which  they  are  to  depend,  and  not  by  sitting  about  and  receiving 
their  rents.  The  Santees  live  like  white  people  and  are  the  most  advanced  of  all 
the  Sioux,  though  those  in  Nebraska  still  receive  government  rations.  Those 
at  Flandreau  left  the  main  band  many  years  ago  and  courageously  struck  out, 
taking  up  homesteads  near  Flandreau. 

These  tribes  do  not  appear  as  yet  to  have  learned  the  value  to  them  of 
cattle,  and  they  are  very  much  disposed  to  kill  any  cows  that  they  obtain  for  the 
flesh  and  the  hide,  so  that  these  1,500  Indians  possess  only  340  head  of  cattle. 
On  the  other  hand,  we  are  told  that  they  are  getting  rid  of  their  ponies,  and 
are  replacing  them  by  useful  American  horses. 

For  nearly  four  hundred  school  children  of  this  agency  there  are  among  the 
Santees  the  government  boarding  school,  the  Santee  normal  school,  a  mission 
school,  and  a  district  day  school.  There  is  another  government  boarding  school 
at  Springfield,  South  Dakota,  and  the  Poncas  have  a  day  school.  The  industrial 
school  at  Santee  is  much  too  small;  its  capacity  is  seventy-five  and  it  has  an 
attendance  of  eighty.    The  buildings  are  very  much  crowded. 

SEMINOLES   IN   FLORIDA 

Living  in  the  Everglades  of  Florida  are  about  600  Seminoles,  the  descendants 
of  those  that  refused  to  be  moved  west  to  the  Indian  Territory  at  the  time  of  the 
Seminole  War.    Until  very  recently,  these  Indians  have  declined  to  receive  help 


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THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


from  the  government  Since  the  end  of  the  Seminole  War  they  have  wandered 
over  the  I'^verglades,  supporting  themselves  in  j)art  by  hunting  and  fishing  and 
in  part  by  agriculture.  With  the  development  of  Florida,  however,  the  wild 
territory  over  which  they  have  so  long  roamed  has  been  gradually  contracting, 
and  settlers  have  been  taking  up  land,  so  that  the  question  as  to  what  shall 
become  of  these  Indians  is  now  a  pressing  one. 

The  Seminoles  are  still  located  in  three  districts;  one  group  is  known  as 
Big  Cypress,  to  the  west  of  the  Everglades,  one  as  the  Miami  band,  to  the  east 
of  the  Everglades,  and  the  Cow  Creek  band,  which  is  locited  not  far  from  Fort 
Pierce.  The  Indians  arc  being  crowded  by  the  encroaching  settlers  deeper  and 
deeper  into  the  Everglades,  where  they  are  bfjginning  to  make  their  homes  on 
islands  in  the  swamp.  White  squatters,  who  come  upon  a  patch  of  land  which 
has  been  held  and  cultivated  by  Indians,  have  no  hesitation  about  claiming  and 
occupying  it  as  their  home  and  pay  not  the  slightest  regard  to  the  Indian's  prior 
claim,  but  proceed  at  once  to  drive  him  away.  Largely  for  this  reason,  the 
Indians  have  of  late  almost  entirely  given  up  farming  and  have  devoted 
themselves  more  than  ever  to  hunting;  yet  the  Seminoles  have  always  been  an 
agricultural  people,  and  until  recently  have  each  year  raised  little  crops. 

Since  1894  Congress  has  made  a  small  annual  appropriation  for  the  purchase 
of  lands  for  the  Seminoles,  and  thirty-six  sections  in  the  vicinity  of  their 
present  location  have  thus  been  secured. 

An  Indian  inspector  recently  visited  their  home,  and  has  made  recom- 
mendation to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  that  350,000  acres  of  swamp  and 
unsurveyed  lands  be  set  aside  for  their  use.  A  bill  to  this  effect  was  introduced 
in  the  Florida  Legislature.  Something  of  this  sort  must  certainly  be  done  to 
give  the  Seminoles  permanent  homes,  if  they  are  to  continue  to  exist.  If 
this  is  not  done,  the  results  to  the  tribe  will  be  fatal  and  to  the  settlers  in  the 
Everglades  very  serious. 

SHEBIT    AND    KAIBAB 

Under  the  charge  of  a  school  teacher  at  St.  George,  Utah,  near  the  Nevada 
line,  are  gathered  320  Indians  belonging  to  these  two  tribes,  both  of  which  are 
probably  Shoshonean  and  belong  to  the  large  Piute  section  of  this  family. 
There  are  170  Shebits  and  150  Kaibabs. 

While  having  made  some  feeble  attempts  at  agriculture,  they  raise 
little  or  nothing,  and  support  themselves  in  large  measure  from  the  desert 
according  to  ancient  custom.  There  appears  to  be  little  known  as  to  the 
conditions  which  prevail  on  their  reservation,  but  its  location  would  indicate  that 
it  is  in  a  country  where  agriculture  would  certainly  be  unsuccessful  unless  water 
was  supplied  to  the  land.    The  report  of  the  teacher  in  charge  for  1 899  states 


I 


THE   RESERVATIONS 


•J.^ 


that  the  last  crop  was  so  complete  a  failure  that  the  Indians  have  not  even  seed 
for  another  year.  The  teacher  has  recently  introduced  knitting  amony  the 
women,  which  has  become  extraordinarily  popular  and  seems  to  engage  the 
attention  of  the  whole  tribe.  It  has  almost  entirely  taken  the  place  of  gambling 
among  the  women,  and  the  men  wear  the  socks  knitted  for  them  with  the 
utmost  pride  and  satisfaction.  Sixty  pounds  of  yarn  were  issued  during  the 
year,  which  produced  200  pair  of  socks. 

There  are  reported  to  be  104  children  of  school  age,  and  there  is  one  day 
school  with  accommodation  for  thirty  pupils  and  an  average  attendance  of 
thirty-two. 

Besides  these  Indians,  there  are  reported  to  be  from  100  to  150  unenrolled 
at  Kanosh,  Grass  Valley  and  Rabbit  Valley,  in  southern  Utah  and  Nevada.  Of 
these  practically  nothing  is  known. 

SHOSHONE  AGENCY 

On  the  Shoshone  reservation  in  west  central  Wyoming  are  842  Snake 
Indians  (Shoshonean)  and  806  Arapaho  (Algonquian).  A  part  of  the  Arapahos 
and  all  of  the  Shoshonis  are  located  near  the  principal  agency,  not  far  from  Fort 
Washakie,  and  there  is  a  sub-agency,  where  most  of  the  Arapahos  draw  their 
rations,  on  the  Little  Wind  River,  twenty-five  miles  distant. 

The  Indians  of  this  reservation  are  industrious  and  are  striving  hard  to 
make  a  living,  but  the  ire  more  or  less  handicapped  by  the  character  of  the 
country  in  which  they  live.  For  the  rations  which  furnish  half  their  subsistence 
the  agent  wisely  insists  that  they  shall  render  an  equivalent  in  labor.  This  is  a 
dry  region,  where  no  crops  can  be  raised  except  by  irrigation,  but  it  is  an 
excellent  stock  country,  and  this  must  always  be  the  chief  industry  of  its 
residents.  The  Shoshonis  and  Arapahos,  however,  have  only  a  few  cattle,  about 
850  head,  and  as  yet  many  of  them  show  little  appreciation  of  the  value  of 
horned  stock.     Yet  stock  raising  must  be  their  ultimate  means  of  support. 

They  are  quite  willing  to  work,  and  in  1899  raised  18,000  bushels  of  wheat, 
18,000  bushels  of  oats,  and  some  vegetables,  and  besides  that  cut  a  good  amount 
of  hay.  In  1898  they  took  a  contract  for  furnishing  wood  to  Fort  Washakie,  to 
the  agency  and  to  Wind  River  boarding  school,  amounting  in  all  to  2,000  cords. 
They  also  filled  a  hay  contract  for  300  tons  for  Fort  Washakie,  sold  large 
quantities  of  wheat,  oats  and  straw  to  the  agency  and  post.  In  1899  they 
freighted  about  400,000  pounds  of  Indian  supplies  from  the  railroad. 

There  are  reported  to  be  275  children  of  school  age  on  the  reservation,  who 
are  educated  at  the  Wind  River  government  boarding  school,  at  St.  Stephen's 
Mission  and  at  the  Episcopal  Mission  school,  both  contract  schools.  Since  the 
withdrawal  of  government  aid  the  mission  schools  have  not  been  full.    At  the 


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THE  INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


Wind  River  school  the  average  attendance-  was  about  i  jq.    The  school  buildings 
should  be  enlarged. 

The  health  of  these  Indians  is  said  to  be  better  than  in  former  years,  but 
there  were  thirteen  more  deaths  than  births  in  the  year  i6^ — the  births 
sixty-six,  and  the  deaths  seventy-nine. 

.SILETZ  AOKNCY 

The  Siletz  Agency  is  on  the  northern  coast  of  Oregon,  and  its  northeastern 
corner  adjoins  the  Grande  Ronde  Agency.  The  population  here  is  494.  Of 
these,  about  one-half  arc  of  Athapaskan,  while  others  ar-.-  of  Kusan  ami 
Takilm."  stock.  Tribal  and  family  distinctions  appear  to  be  lost  on  this 
reservation,  and  it  is  difficult  to  identify  its  inhabitants. 

These  are  a  people  who  heretofore  supported  themselves  by  fishing,  but 
with  the  progress  of  time  and  the  settling;  ii|)  of  the  country,  they  have  taken 
up  other  pursuits,  and  earn  considerable  money  by  farming,  by  working  in  the 
canneries,  and  for  their  white  neighbors.  They  are  industrious,  and  most  of 
them  are  self-supporting.  Largely  by  the  proceeds  of  their  own  labor,  they  have 
provided  themselves  with  teams  and  wagons.  They  raise  potatoes  and  other 
veire*  \bles,  and  a  good  many  oats,  and  put  up  plenty  of  hay.  They  have  a  very 
few  cattle.  The  preparation  and  sale  of  chittum  bark  (Qiscani  sagrada)  is 
becoming  quite  an  industry,  and  in  iSgg  netted  them  $2,500. 

There  are  ninety  children  of  school  age,  of  whom  about  sixty  attend  the 
boarding  school  on  the  reservation,  and  twelve  have  been  transferred  to  non- 
reservation  schools. 

The  health  of  the  people  is  not  satisfactory,  and  they  are  gradually  growing 
fewer  in  number.  The  deaths  exceed  the  births,  and,  as  in  so  many  cases, 
consumption  is  the  most  fatal  disease,  this  being  due  to  the  unsanitary  lives  the 
Indians  lead.  A  recent  apparent  increase  in  population  followed  the  return  to 
the  agency  of  certain  families  which  had  long  been  absent. 

SISSETON   AGENCY 

The  Sisseton  Agency  is  in  South  Dakota,  and  has  under  it  the  Sisseton 
and  the  Wahpeton  Sioux,  who  have  made  considerable  progress  in  civilization. 
Their  lands  have  been  allotted.  Although  some  of  these  farms  are  of  good 
quality,  and  in  favorable  years  yield  considerable  crops,  yet  they  are  always 
subject  to  the  severe  droughts  wdich  so  often  prevail  in  South  Dakota,  and 
farming  is  often  a  failure.  Nevertheless,  these  people  are  raising  considerable 
wheat  and  oats,  and  other  grain  and  vegetables.  Unfortunately,  they  have  very 
few  cattle,  and  are  therefore  obliged  to  depend  largely  on  their  crops,  and 
when  these  fail  there  is  suffering.    On  this  reservation,  as  on  so  many  others. 


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THE  RESERVATIONS 


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the  tendpncy  is  for  the  Indians  to  rent  their  lands  to  white  men,  and  themselvet 
to  take  no  interest  in  the  crops  which  the  land  produces.  Under  such  circum- 
stances the  Indian  makes  no  proKrcss,  Imt  rrmains  an  idler;  which  is  precisely 
wliat  the  government  does  not  wish  him  to  do.  Prior  to  their  receipt  of  large 
cash  payments,  the  proceeds  of  the  cession  of  their  surplus  lands,  they  were 
much  more  industrious  and  enterprising  than  they  are  now.  When  their  money 
shall  be  all  xone,  improvement  may  begin  agfain. 

There  is  an  industrial  sciiool  on  the  reservation  with  an  attendance  of 
eighty-three,  and  besides  that  a  Presbyterian  school  with  an  average  attendance 
of  more  than  seventy-five  pupils.  The  buildings  of  the  government  school  are 
in  a  very  unsatisfactory  condition,  with  leaky  roofs,  ami  generally  out  of  repair. 

The  situation  of  this  reservation  exposes  the  Indians  to  the  liquor  traffic, 
which  is  still  carried  on,  and  the  offenders  are  protected  from  punishment. 


SOUTHERN    UTE    AGENCY 

Under  the  Southern  Ute  Agency,  in  southwestern  Colorado,  are  i,ocx) 
Southern  Utes  (Shoshonean),  400  of  whom  have  been  located  on  allotments  on 
the  eastern  half  of  their  reservation,  where  streams  affonl  opportunity  for  irri-- 
gation.  The  unallotted  lands  of  this  part  of  the  reservation  were  thrown  open 
to  settlement  last  May.  The  reservation  is  in  the  dry  country  of  Colorado,  but 
efforts  are  being  made  to  put  water  on  the  allotted  tracts  as  rapidly  as  |)OKsibIe. 
Each  year  a  little  more  land  is  being  put  under  cultivation,  and  such  Indians  as 
have  an  assured  water  supply  are  fairly  certain  to  harvest  good  crops,  except 
when  these  are  destroyed  by  hail  storms  and  by  grasshoppers.  As  yet,  however, 
agriculture  is  only  beginning  with  the  Utes,  but  as  fast  as  water  is  furnished 
them  they  may  be  trusted  to  make  a  success  of  farming,  though  only  in  a  small 
way  for  the  present.  They  have  few  or  no  cattle,  but  possess  a  few  thousand 
sheep  and  goats.  Their  country,  however,  is  well  adapted  to  stock  raising,  and 
efforts  should  be  made  to  help  them  in  this  direction,  for  in  this  dry  country  no 
sure  dependence  can  be  placed  on  agriculture.  The  allotted  Utes  are  pro- 
gressive, and  take  kindly  to  the  ways  of  civilization.  For  the  most  part,  they 
have  adopted  citizens'  dress. 

The  unallotted  Utes  chose  to  hold  their  lands  in  common  on  the  dry  western 
portion  of  the  reservation,  where  there  is  a  sub-agency  at  Navajo  Springs.  They 
live  in  camps  among  the  mountains,  and  as  no  effort  has  been  made  to  provide 
them  with  a  system  of  irrigation,  they  have,  of  course,  done  nothing  in  farming. 
As  with  all  tribes  located  in  the  arid  West,  stock  raising  ought  to  be  their  main 
support,  and  agriculture  should  be  only  an  incident.  The  sooner  Congress 
awakens  to  the  importance  of  providing  for  all  these  Indians  a  means  of  self- 


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126 


THE  INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


support,  the  sooner  will  it  be  possible  to  reduce  the  sum  total  of  the  Indian 
appropriation  bills. 

Some  whisky  is  sold  to  these  Indians  by  white  people,  but,  except  when 
intoxicated,  they  are  quiet  and  easily  handled,  and  have  trouble  with  no  one. 

Practically  nothing  is  being  done  by  the  government  to  give  the  children  a 
school,  and  they  refuse  to  send  their  children  to  schools  away  from  home. 

STANDING   ROCK   AGENCY 

Standing  Rock  reservation  lies  partly  in  North  and  partly  in  South  Dakota. 
The  Cannon  Ball  River  forms  its  northern  boundary,  and  the  west  bank  of  the 
Missouri  River  its  eastern.  There  are  3,575  Sioux  here,  of  the  Hunkpapa, 
Black  Feet  and  Yanktonai  bands.  The  large  reservation  is  occupied  by  Sioux, 
who,  a  few  years  ago,  were  hostile  to  the  government.  This  very  fact  has  turned 
attention  to  it,  so  that  it  is  well  furnished  with  schools,  missionaries,  field 
matrons  and  other  essentials  to  the  advancement  of  the  Indian  tribes.  Other 
tribes  which  have  been  at  peace  with  the  whites  have  been  overlooked  in  these 
matters  by  Congress,  but  the  hostiles  are  well  provided  for. 

Thus,  for  about  700  children  of  school  age,  there  were  three  government 
boarding  schools,  one  mission  boarding  school  and  four  government  day  schools 
in  operation  on  the  reservation  during  the  year  ending  June  30,  1899.  The 
schools  were  overcrowded,  and  the  total  average  attendance  was  555. 

The  country  in  which  Standing  Rock  Agency  is  located  is  arid,  and  while 
crops  can  sometimes  be  raised,  nevertheless  successful  harvesting  is  a  matter  of 
much  uncertainty.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  possible  in  many  parts  of  the 
reservation  to  grow  small  crops  of  corn,  and  if  this  can  be  combined  with  stock 
raising,  the  Indians  may  ultimately  be  brought  to  a  point  where  they  will  be 
self-supporting.  At  present  the  government  rations  furnish  sixty  per  cent,  of 
their  subsistence. 

Cattle  do  excellently  in  this  region,  and  the  Sioux  of  Standing  Rock,  havinj 
more  than  10,000,  have  every  incentive  to  take  the  best  of  care  of  them.  The 
total  earnings  of  these  Indians  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1899,  are  given  as 
$117,000,  of  which  more  than  $52,000  was  from  the  sale  of  beef  turned  in  to 
the  government  for  the  subsistence  of  the  Indians,  $5,200,  sales  of  wood  to  the 
government,  $900,  received  for  hauling  freight  between  the  agency  and  the 
railroad,  and  about  $25,000,  pay  of  employees  of  Indian  blood  working  at  the 
agency  in  the  schools. 

In  the  report  of  the  agency  physician  for  1898,  it  is  shown  that  just  fifty  per 
cent,  of  the  total  deaths  (142)  on  the  reservation  during  that  year  were  due  to 
tuberculosis.  For  1899  there  were  reported  270  deaths;  the  very  high  death-rate 
being  due  to  epidemics  of  measles  and  whooping  cough. 


9 


THE  RESERVATIONS 


137 


It  will  be  remembered  that  it  was  the  Standing  Rock  Agency  that  Agent 
James  McLaughlin,  now  Indian  Inspector  in  the  Interior  Department,  managed 
with  so  much  success  for  fourteen  years,  and  it  is  not  to  be  doubted  that  the 
credit  for  the  progress  made  by  the  Standing  Rock  Sioux  is  largely  due  to  him. 

TONGUE  RIVER  AGENCY 

The  Tongue  River  reservation,  which  lies  in  southern  Montana,  east  of  and 
adjoining  the  Crow  reservation,  and  west  of  Tongue  River,  is  occupied  by  the 
Northern  Cheyennes,  a  people  of  Algonquian  stock.  The  agf^ncy  is  located 
on  Lame  Deer  creek  about  65  miles  from  Rosebud  station  on  the  Northern 
Pacific  Railroad. 

The  reservation  was  set  apart  for  the  use  of  the  Northern  Cheyennes  by  the 
executive  order  of  Nov.  26,  1884.  When  these  Indians  surrendered  to  Gen. 
Miles,  this  portion  of  Montana  had  very  few  settlers  in  it  and  the  Indians  were 
promised  by  Gen.  Miles  that  they  might  pick  out  a  location  for  their  reservation, 
and  that  when  they  had  done  so  it  would  be  assi';ned  to  them  and  they  would  be 
allowed  to  occupy  it  without  molestation  so  long  as  they  remained  friendly  to 
the  United  States.  The  Cheyennes  selected  this  territory,  on  which,  however,  a 
few  white  men  had  already  taken  up  claims.  These  claims  could  not  be 
interfered  with  by  the  government,  and  for  the  past  fifteen  years  we  have  had 
the  anomaly  of  an  Indian  reservation  over  which  were  dotted  the  homes  of 
twenty-five  or  thirty  white  ranchmen.  This  condition  of  things  is  unfortunate, 
for  both  Indians  and  whites.  The  whites  complain  of  pilfering  by  the  Indians 
and  especially  grumble  because  occasionally  their  cattle  have  been  killed  for  food 
by  the  young  Indians.  In  the  summer  of  1898,  an  effort  was  made  to  arrange 
for  the  purchase  of  the  claims  owned  by  the  white  men  in  order  that  they  might 
be  removed  and  the  title  of  the  Indians  to  the  whole  tract  confirmed  ;  but  the 
bill  for  the  carrying  out  of  this  plan  failed  to  pass  Congress. 

The  reservation  of  the  Northern  Cheyennes  contains  but  little  farming  land, 
but  is  one  of  the  best  stock  ranges  in  all  the  West,  being  an  admirable  grass 
country,  provided  with  abundant  shelter  and  sufficiently  well  watered  to  keep 
stock.  There  is  no  doubt  that  if  1,50x3  or  2,000  cows  were  issued  to  these  Indians, 
and  an  effort  were  made  to  teach  them  how  to  care  for  the  stock,  they  would  make 
successful  cattle  growers.  At  present  they  have  no  property  whatever,  except  a 
large  number  of  ponies  for  which  they  have  no  use,  and  they  receive  regular 
rations  from  the  government.  Farming  must  always  be  a  failure  here,  although 
there  are  small  patches  of  ground  on  some  creeks  and  streams  where  gardens 
can  be  raised  and  enough  vegetables,  grain  and  potatoes  grown  to  help  the 
people  out  in  their  living.  There  is  little  hope  for  much  progress  by  them 
until  the  whites  shall  be  moved  off  the  reservation  and  they  shall  be  provided 


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THE  INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


with  some  occupation  which  shall  be  a  means  of  support  to  them.  The  Chey- 
ennes  are  energetic,  industrious,  and  willing  to  work,  hut  under  present  conditions 
they  have  nothing  to  work  with,  and  practically  all  the  money  that  they  earn 
is  the  few  thousand  dollars  which  they  receive  for  hauling  freight,  and  for  the 
small  wood  and  hay  contracts  which  they  fill  for  the  government,  not  more  than 
$7,ooo  in  all.  There  are  about  1,360  of  them,  which  is  a  recent  slight  increase  in 
numbers.  Of  these  there  are  379  children  of  school  age,  for  whom  there  is 
scarcely  any  accommodation.  The  agency  day  school  receives  from  20  to  30, 
and  St.  Labre's  Mission,  on  Tongue  River,  receives  about  65  ;  this  leaves  about 
300  without  any  reservation  school  facilities  whatever. 

While  the  Cheyennes,  like  most  other  Indians,  are  troubled  with  catarrh 
and  suffer  from  pulmonary  diseases,  yet  their  condition  of  health  is  vastly  better 
than  that  of  many  tribes  occupying  similar  locations  in  the  arid  West.  They  are 
gradually  coming  to  depend  more  on  the  agency  physician  and  less  on  the 
"  medicine  man,"  or  native  doctor. 

The  Cheyennes  are  extremely  unpopular  with  the  cattle  men  who  occupy 
the  territory  to  the  east  of  Tongue  River,  and  every  spring  news  is  telegraphed 
all  over  the  country  of  a  threatened  outbreak  by  the  Indians.  These  reports 
are  set  on  foot  by  white  cattle  men  who  on  the  one  hand  are  anxious  to  have  the 
Indians  moved  from  their  present  location  to  some  other  point,  in  order  that  the 
fine  grazing  of  this  reservation  may  be  thrown  open  to  their  herds,  and  on  the 
other,  wish  to  prevent  immigration  to  the  country  lying  east  of  Tongue  River, 
so  that  the  range  that  they  now  occupy  may  not  be  interfered  with  by  small  local 
ranchers.    The  Indians  are  entirely  quiet  and  peaceable. 

TULALIP  AGENCY 

The  five  different  tribes  of  this  agency  are  scattered  along  the  eastern  side 
of  Puget  Sound  in  northwestern  Washington.  The  total  number  of  Indians 
under  this  agency  is  1,457,  oi  which  the  Tulalip,  or  D'wamish,  number  485,  the 
Lummi  366,  the  Swinomish  303,  the  Port  Madison  157,  the  Muckleshoot  146. 
These   are  all  Salishan  tribes. 

The  Indians  on  the  Swinomish  reservation  raised  during  the  last  year  15,000 
bushels  of  grain,  and  those  of  the  other  reservations  an  equivalent  amount.  Veg- 
etables are  grown  in  great  quantities  and  considerable  hay  is  cut.  They  own 
720  head  of  cattle,  and  more  than  that  number  of  horses.  Most  of  them  have 
received  allotments. 

The  agent  finds  it  difficult  to  control  the  whisky  drinking  to  any  great 
extent,  though  in  the  past  year  six  men  have  been  arrested  and  four  convicted 
for  selling  liquor  to  Indians. 

The  school  conditions  are  not  good.    There  are  three  day  schools  with  a 


t  conditions 
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THE  RESERVATIONS 


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capacity  for  i  lo  children,  and  one  contract  boarding  school,  while  the  total 
number  of  children  of  school  age  is  334.  The  average  day  school  attendance  is 
67;  in  the  contract  boarding  school  73. 

UINTAH    AND  OURAY    AGENCY 

The  Uintah  and  Ouray  Agency  is  situated  in  northeastern  Utah.  On  the 
Uintah  reservation  are  472  Uintah  Utes  and  362  White  River  Utes,  many  of 
whom  have  received  allotments.  Under  the  Ouray  sub-agency  are  851  Uncom- 
pahgre  Utes,  whose  lands  have  been  all  allotted,  and  nineteen  White  River 
Utes.  All  these  belong  to  the  Shoshonean  family.  All  unallotted  lands  except 
such  as  contain  gilsonite  have  been  thrown  open.  The  country  occupied  by  these 
Indians  includes  a  good  deal  of  farming  land,  which  produces  large  crops  under 
irrigation.  Vast  quantities  of  hay  may  be  raised  here,  much  more,  in  fact,  than 
the  Indians  can  find  market  for.  Vegetables  also  do  well.  Some  of  them 
are  endeavoring  to  make  the  most  of  their  allotments,  but  as  yet  the  amount 
of  land  which  has  been  put  under  water  is  comparatively  small.  The  Uintah 
reservation  is  a  fine  stock  country,  and  if  the  Indians  can  be  persuaded  to  take 
care  of  their  cattle  and  their  sheep  the  industry  of  stock  raising  will  prove  very 
profitable.    At  present  they  possess  about  2,500  head  of  cattle  and  3,000  sheep. 

Drunkenness  prevails  to  some  extent,  liquor  being  sold  to  them  by  white 
men  living  on  the  borders  of  the  reservation. 

A  portion  of  these  Utes  are  dissatisfied  because  the  agreement  which  they 
made  with  the  United  States  in  1880  has  never  been  carried  out.  There  is 
also  much  dissatisfaction  because  the  game  laws  of  Colorado  deny  them  the 
right,  guaranteed  them  by  the  United  States,  to  hunt  on  their  old  reservation  so 
long  as  the  game  lasts.  On  the  whole,  treaties  with  the  Utes  have  been  broken 
right  and  left  by  the  United  States  and  some  compensation  ought  to  be  made 
them  for  the  bad  treatment  they  have  received. 

There  are  two  boarding  schools  under  this  agency,  one  of  which  has  an 
average  attendance  of  fifty-seven  and  the  other  of  twenty-five — a  very  small 
percentage  of  the  children  of  school  age. 

UMATILLA  AGENCY 

The  Umatilla  Agency  is  in  northeast  Oregon,  not  very  far  south  of  the 
Washington  line.  Here  there  are  1,086  Indians  divided  as  follows:  Cayuse, 
360  (Waiilatpuan);  Umatilla,  188;  Walla  Walla,  529  (Shahaptian). 

Their  fine  farming  lands  have  been  allotted  to  these  Indians,  but,  except  in  a 
few  instances,  they  do  not  live  upon  nor  farm  their  individual  allotments.  They 
prefer  to  rent  their  land  to  the  whites  and  to  live  more  or  less  in  their  ancient 
fashion,  spending  the  money.  Very  few  of  them  are  reported  as  working,  but 
the  most  still  wear  their  blankets,  and  paint  their  faces.    There  is  more  or  less 


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130 


THE  INDIANS  OF  TO-UAY 


dissatisfaction  here  by  reason  of  the  failure  by  the  government  to  sell  as  ajjireed 
the  surplus  land  for  the  benefit  of  the  Indians.  The  lands  have  not  been  sold, 
and  are  now  being  squatted  on  by  i.ie  whites,  who  are  stripping  the  country 
of  its  timber. 

The  health  of  the  Indians  is  not  satisfactory;  they  suffer  from  scrofula  and 
tuberculosis,  and  many  of  them  are  afflicted  with  eye  troubles.  The  situation  of 
the  reservation  makes  it  very  difficult  to  keep  down  the  liquor  traffic,  but  it  is 
said  that  great  good  results  from  the  severity  of  the  Indian  judges,  who  impose 
considerable  fines  on  men  convicted  of  drunkenness,  which  fines  the  prisoners 
usually  have  to  work  out. 

The  Indians  spend  much  of  their  summer  at  a  distance  from  the  agency, 
catching  salmon  and  gathering  the  various  edible  roots  which  they  store  up  for 
their  winter  use,  and  give  little  attention  to  the  cultivation  of  their  farms; 
although  they  do  in  some  degree  look  out  for  the  cattle  which  they  possess. 

There  are  two  schools  on  this  reservation — the  government  boarding  school, 
and  the  Kate  Drexel  school.  The  government  school  has  an  average  attendance 
of  sixty-eight  children,  and  the  other  of  eighty-four. 


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UNION  AGENCY 

The  Union  Agency  is  occupied  by  the  Five  Civilized  Tribes,  who  number, 
according  to  the  latest  statistics,  77,686.  Of  these  the  Choctaw  number  19,406; 
the  Chikasaw,  9,048;  the  Creek,  14,771;  the  Seminole  and  the  Cherokee,  34,461. 
With  each  of  these  so-called  nations,  and  usually  citizens  of  each,  are  a  number 
of  intermarried  whites  and  of  negroes,  some  of  them  descendants  of  the  old 
slaves  owned  by  the  Indians;  and  these  persons,  some  of  whom  have  no  Indian 
blood  in  their  veins,  number  more  than  20,000.  Besides,  there  are  incorporated 
with  the  Cherokees  a  number  of  Delawares  and  Shawnees.  The  four  tribes 
first  mentioned  belong  to  the  Muskhogean  family,  the  Cherokees  to  the  Iro- 
quoian  family. 

The  Five  Civilized  Tribes  occupy  all  except  a  small  portion  of  the  Indian 
Territory.  Their  country  comprises  about  40,000  square  miles  of  territory;  in 
other  words  it  is  nearly  as  large  as  the  New  England  States  with  Maine  taken 
out.  The  country  was  set  aside  for  the  use  of  certain  Indians  in  1S29,  having 
already  been  occupied  in  part  by  the  Creeks  two  years  earlier.  In  the  year  1830 
President  Jackson  ordered  the  removal  of  the  Indians  from  the  homes  which 
they  then  occupied  east  of  the  Mississippi,  and  in  1832  the  Indian  Territory  was 
set  apart  for  the  F'ive  Civilized  Tribes.  During  the  succeeding  years  the  re- 
moval took  place,  but  it  was  not  until  1846  that  the  Seminoles  were  finally 
established  there.  As  is  well  known,  a  small  section  of  the  Cherokees  and  of 
the  Seminoles  still  occupy  their  old  homes  in  the  East. 


THE  RESERVATIONS 


131 


The  Indian  Territory  is  a  fertile  farming  country  with  abundant  timber,  and 
many  of  the  Indians  have  done  well  and  become  rich.  Grain,  all  vegetables  and 
cotton  are  profitably  grown  there.  The  whole  country  is  dotted  with  villages 
and  towns,  and  many  of  the  homes  of  the  Indians  and  the  citizen  negroes  are  as 
comfortable  and  as  well  provided  as  most  farmers'  homes  in  any  part  of  the  land. 

Besides  the  Indians  inhabiting  the  Territory  there  are  more  than  200,000 
whites,  who  live  there  with  and  without  consent  of  the  Indians  and  who  carry 
on  all  the  ordinary  business  occupations  found  in  any  other  part  of  the  land. 

In  June,  i8g8,  the  President  approved  a  bill  "for  the  protection  of  the 
people  of  the  Indian  Territory  and  for  other  purposes,"  which  is  commonly 
known  as  the  Curtis  Act.  It  is  perhaps  the  most  important  piece  of  Indian 
legislation  that  has  ever  been  enacted.     Its  principal  features  are  as  follows  : 

It  abolishes  the  tribal  governments.  It  enlarges  and  extends  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  United  States  Court  to  the  Indian  Territory  so  as  to  include  all 
causes  of  action,  and  abolishes  all  tribal  courts  in  the  Territory  and  prohibits 
the  United  States  Courts  from  enforcing  the  laws  of  the  tribes.  It  makes  the 
enrollment  of  the  tribes  by  the  Dawes  Commission  conclusive  as  to  the  mem- 
bership of  each  tribe.  It  provides  for  the  allotment  of  all  lands  except  mineral 
lands  in  severalty  to  the  members  of  the  tribe  by  the  Dawes  Commission, 
such  allotments  to  be  equal  in  value.  The  Secretary  of  the  Interior  is  to  lease 
the  mineral  land  of  the  different  tribes  for  the  benefit  of  the  tribes,  under  such 
regulations  as  he  shall  prescribe.  The  incorporation  of  cities  and  towns  in  the 
Territory,  the  surveying  and  laying  out  of  town  sites  and  the  appraisal  and  sale  of 
town  lots  within  the  Territory  are  provided  for.  All  rents  and  royalties  due  and 
payable  to  the  tribe  are  to  be  paid  into  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States  to  the 
credit  of  the  tribe.  No  money  shall  be  paid  to  the  tribal  governments  for  dis- 
bursement, and  payment  of  all  sums  to  members  of  the  tribe  shall  be  made  by  a 
dibbursing  officer  of  the  government,  and  no  previously  contracted  obligation  shall 
be  a  lien  on  any  such  sums.  The  Chickasaw  freedmen  are  to  be  enrolled  and  to 
have  lands  allotted  them.  All  farming  and  grazing  leases  were  made  terminable 
in  1898  and  iSgg.  Lands  to  the  amount  of  157,600  acres  in  the  Cherokee  Nation 
are  segregated  for  the  use  of  the  Delawares.  An  Indian  inspector  is  to  be 
located  permanently  in  the  Indian  Territory  to  have  immediate  oversight  of  all 
Indian  Territory  affairs. 

The  Five  Civilized  Tribes  have  hitherto  conducted  their  own  schools,  but 
the  Interior  Department  under  the  Curtis  Act  has  now  assumed  control  over 
all  education  among  the  Five  Civilized  Tribes,  except  among  the  Seminoles. 
A  general  superintendent  of  schools  in  the  Indian  Territory,  Mr.  John  L.  Ben- 
edict, of  Illinois,  has  been  appointed,  and  under  him  a  supervisor  of  schools  for 
each   nation.     Their   investigations  have  shown  a  deplorable  state  of  affairs  : 


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THE  INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


nepotism,  incompetency  of  school  officials  and  misuse  of  school  funds,  a  very 
low  grade  of  scholarship  and  almost  no  industrial  trainir"  The  four  nations 
have   hail   twenty-four  boarding?  schools   (including  orpb  ums)   and    365 

neighborhood  day   schools.      The  Seminoles  have   two  ig  and  two  day 

schools.    The  Chickasaw  freedmen  have  no  share  •  school  funds,  the 

Choctaw  freedmen  only  a  very  small  share,  and  40,  so,ooo  white  children 

are  almost  without  schooling. 

An  agreement  made  by  the  Five  Civilized  Tribes  Commission  with  rep- 
resentatives of  the  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws  was  amended  by  the  Curtis  Act 
and  was  afterward  ratified  by  these  tribes  in  the  fall  of  1898,  but  the  agreement 
with  the  Creeks  was  not  ratified  by  them.  The  Cherokees,  after  long  delay, 
entered  into  an  agreement  with  the  Commission,  but  it  was  not  ratified  by  Con- 
gress. Thus  the  Creeks  and  the  Cherokees  are  under  the  full  operation 
of  the  Curtis  Act;  while  the  Choctaws,  Chickasaws  and  Seminoles  are  under 
it  so  far  as  it  does  not  conflict  with  their  agreements,  which  among  other 
things  provide  that  their  tribal  governments  shall  continue  eight  years  from 
March  4,  1898. 

In  the  Indian  Territory  there  are  important  mines  of  asphalt  and  coal. 
Agreements  have  been  made  and  regulations  promulgated  for  the  leasing  of 
mineral  lands  among  the  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws— the  royalties  prescribed 
are:  coal  ten  cents;  asphalt  ten  cents  a  ton  for  crude  and  sixty  cents  for 
refined  ;  oil  10  per  cent,  to  25  per  cent,  ad  valorem,  according  to  net  smelter 
returns.  For  coal  mining  among  the  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws  41  thirty- 
year  leases  of  g6o  acres  each  have  been  made,  and  28  more  leases  are 
awaiting  decision  as  to  which  of  two  companies  has  the  prior  right  to  the  use  of 
the  desired  tracts.  Among  the  Cherokees  and  Creeks  the  whole  question  of 
leasing  mineral  lands  is  held  in  abeyance.  The  coal  royalty  paid  in  at  the  close 
of  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30,  1899,  amounted  for  the  Choctaw  and 
Chickasaw  nation  to  about  $1 13,000. 

Royalties  on  coal  and  asphaltum  in  the  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  Nations,  and 
all  royalties  and  revenues  in  the  Cherokee  and  Creek  Nations  are  now  collected 
by  the  United  States  agent.  Lawyers,  physicians  and  others  have  taken  the 
ground  that  the  imposition  of  a  tax  on  their  business  by  tribal  authorities  had 
become  invalid  under  the  new  conditions,  but  a  decision  has  been  rendered 
against  them  and  establishing  the  validity  of  such  taxation  by  the  tribes.  The 
rolls  of  the  Choctaws,  Chickasaws  and  Seminoles  are  about  completed. 

Rules  have  been  prescribed  under  which  the  Dawes  Commission  is  now 
making  what  are  known  as  preliminary  allotments,  and  offices  are  being  opened 
where  citizens  may  register  their  selections  of  land.  The  selections  allowed  to 
Creeks  are  160  acres  each,  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws  240  and  Cherokees  80: 


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THE  RESERVATIONS 


133 


and  preliminary  allotments,  which  the  allottees  may  lease  for  one  year,  must 
not  exceed  these  amounts.  Meantime,  appraisers  are  engaged  in  appraising 
Choctaw,  Chickasaw  and  Seminole  lands  preliminary  to  permanent  allotments. 
Under  the  Act  a  person  occupying  more  tribal  territory  than  would  be  included 
in  the  pro  rata  share  of  himself,  wife  and  children  is  subject  to  punishment. 
Hitherto  some  of  the  shrewd  members  of  the  tribes  have  fenced  in  for 
themselves  and  obtained  revenue  from  large  tracts,  sometimes  thousands  of 
acres  of  tribal  lands  which  were  the  common  property  of  th'!  tribe. 

Commissioners  are  engaged  in  laying  out  town  sites  in  the  Choctaw  and 
Chickasaw  Nations.  Town  site  Commissioners  for  Muscogee  and  Wagoner  in 
the  Creek  Nation  arc  also  at  work. 

WALKER    RIVER   RESERVATION 

South  of  the  Pyramid  Lake  reservation,  in  the  State  of  Nevada,  and  watered 
by  the  Walker  River,  is  a  reservation  under  the  charge  of  the  superintendent  of 
the  Indian  industrial  school  of  Carson  City,  Nevada.  It  contains  more  than 
30u,uuo  acres,  of  which  about  1,300  are  farmed,  not  much  more  successfully  than 
the  land  on  Pyramid  Lake  reservation.  The  country  is  largely  desert,  from  the 
point  of  view  of  the  farmer,  yet  there  is  land  enough  which  might  be  brought 
under  water,  to  enable  the  Indians  to  raise  considerable  crops,  and  if  cattle  were 
given  them,  they  would  soon  make  long  strides  towards  self-support. 

There  are  587  of  these  Piutes  (Shoshonean),  of  whom  119  are  children  of 
school  age.  There  is  a  day  school,  but  it  is  much  too  small,  accommodating 
only  thirty-six  children.    They  have  twenty  children  in  the  Carson  school. 

The  Indians  on  this  reservation  are  handicapped,  not  only  by  the  lack  of 
arable  land,  but  also  by  the  great  scarcity  of  proper  farming  tools,  which  I.?ve 
never  been  issued  to  them  by  the  government.  They  raise  considerable  hay, 
Qoo  tons  in  1899,  and  the  crop  of  wheat  amounted  to  1,500  bushels.  When 
properly  watered,  alfalfa  grows  well  here.  The  people  are  docile  and  willing  to 
work,  and  all  the  conditions  seem  favorable  for  stock  raising,  if  the  cattle  can  be 
issued  to  them,  and  they  can  be  taught  how  to  handle  them  for  a  few  years. 

The  Piutes  are  exceedingly  poor.  Many  of  the  men  earn  a  little  money 
by  working  for  farm  ranchmen  in  the  neighborhood,  but  as  yet  they  have  hardly 
made  a  start  in  civilized  employments. 

Here,  as  elsewhere,  the  whisky  traffic  is  very  troublesome.  Through  the 
United  States  officials,  a  number  of  Chinamen  have  been  convicted  of  selling 
liquor  to  the  Indians,  and  have  been  sent  to  the  penitentiary,  but  as  the  traffic  is 
profitable,  it  springs  up  again.  The  young  people  are  also  lured  into  the  opium 
joints,  where  the  girls  and  boys  alike  are  ruined,  and  the  local  authorities  make 
little  effort  to  suppress  such  crimes. 


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i34 


THE  INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 

WARM    SPRINCiS    AOENCY 


The  northern  boundary  of  this  reservation  lies  tifty  miles  south  of  the  Dalles 
of  the  Columbia,  in  southern  Oregon.  The  country  is  rou^h  and  mountainous, 
but  is  well  watered,  and  .tIoh^?  the  streams  are  found  abundant  tracts  of  bottom 
land  which  are  excellent  for  farming.  The  higher  grounds  constitute  a  good 
stock  range,  so  that  mixed  farming  cin  well  be  carried  on  on  this  reservation. 
At  the  same  time,  it  must  be  said  that  the  frequent  dry  seasons  make  the 
raising  of  crops  rather  uncertain,  except  where  water  has  been  brought  on 
to  the  land.  Here  there  are  located  ijOS  Indians,  of  whom  the  Wascoes 
(Chinookan)  and  Teninos  (Shahaptian)  number  360,  Warm  Springs  (Shahaptian) 
513,  and  the  I'iutes  (Shoshonean)  q6.  They  are  industrious,  and  anxious  to  learn 
how  to  work  to  the  best  advantage.  Most  are  self-supporting,  or  nearly  so, 
and  only  a  few  of  the  older  people  need  help. 

The  crops  raised  here  are  wheat,  oats,  vegetables  and  hay,  and  the  Indians 
possess  about  1,600  cattle  and  6,000  sheep,  so  that  their  condition,  on  the  whole, 
is  very  satisfactory.  It  is  true  that  they  have  about  5,500  head  of  horses,  but  we 
are  told  that  in  iSqCi-qj  the  Indians  sold  600  horses  to  be  consumed  at  a  horse- 
canning  establishment  at  Linton,  Oregon. 

In  November,  1897,  a  boarding  school  was  reopened  in  new  buildings  at  the 
agency  for  the  233  children  of  school  age  found  here,  and  a  small  school,  which 
had  been  conducted  elsewhere  on  the  reservation,  was  consolidated  with  it.  As 
no  school  had  been  held  at  the  agency  for  three  years  previous,  many  Indians 
who  wished  school  advantages  for  their  children  had  left  the  reservation  and 
gone  to  others,  where  they  hoped  that  their  children  might  be  received.  The 
school  accommodates  175  children,  and  has  had  an  average  attendance  of  1 18. 

WESTERN  SHOSHONE  AGENCY 

This  reservation,  situated  partly  in  Nevada  and  partly  in  Idaho,  is  occupied 
jointly  by  the  Shoshonis  and  Piutes  (Shoshonean),  there  being  296  Shoshonis 
and  276  Piutes.     There  are  144  children  of  school  age. 

The  reservation  contains  nearly  500  square  miles,  and  lies  in  an  arid  country 
about  6,000  feet  above  the  sea-level.  Nine-tenths  of  the  reservation  is  admirable 
stock  range,  but  farming,  on  account  of  cold  and  drought,  will  always  fail.  On 
the  other  hand,  there  is  considerable  natural  hay  land;  and  a  good  deal  more 
which,  if  irrigated,  would  produce  what  is  known  as  tame  hay,  that  is  to  say, 
timothy  and  alfalfa.  The  conditions  here,  therefore,  are  all  in  favor  of  starting 
the  Indians  in  the  business  of  stock  raising,  by  giving — as  has  been  done  with 
other  tribes— a  moderate  number  of  cows  to  the  different  heads  of  families. 
These  cattle,  if  properly  taken  care  of,  would  form  the  nucleus  of  herds  which 


THE   RESERVATIONS 


»35 


would  ultimately  make  these  Indians  sclf-siipportini;.  It  is  said  that  the  Sho- 
shonis  and  the  Piutes  make  good  stockmen,  and  that  they  would  be  |)«;rfectly 
competent  to  look  after  thoir  cattle.  It  has  been  sugK(^sted  that,  instead  of 
cattle,  sheep  should  be;  ^ivt'n  to  these  In<lians,  hut  this  is  an  unfortunate 
suitK^-'^tion.  The  risks  of  the  sheep  business  in  a  country  so  far  north  and 
of  such  altitude  are  far  ijreater  than  those  of  cattle  raising  ;  and,  moreover, 
the  sheep  would  ultimately  destroy  the  range,  which  would  never  be  done  by 
cattle.  The  greater  increase  from  shet-p  and  the  immediate  return  from  a 
wool  crop,  would  not,  I  think,  justify  the  greater  risk  of  the  sheep  business. 
Indians  are  easily  discouraged,  antl  if  a  severe  winter  should  sweep  away  their 
herds  of  sheep,  the  effect  on  them  would  be  very  unfortunate. 

Liquor  is  sold  to  the  Indians  of  this  agency  by  white  men  living  in  the 
neighborhood,  and  nothing  seems  to  be  done  to  prevent  it.  The  agent  is  also 
much  annoyed  by  the  trespassing  on  the  reservation  of  stock  owned  by  sheep 
and  cattle  men.  This  is  a  common  trouble  about  all  Western  reservations,  for 
which  no  remedy  has  yet  been  found. 

There  is  a  boarding  school  on  this  reservation  with  the  capacity  of  fifty 
children ;  that  is  to  say,  of  thirty-five  per  cent,  of  the  school  children  on  the 
reservation.  The  children  are  docile  and  easily  managed,  both  as  to  their 
industrial  and  classroom  work. 


I» 


WHITE  EARTH  AGENCY 

Under  the  diminished  White  Earth  Agency  are  the  following  Chippewas 
(Algonquian) :  2,275  Mississippi,  318  Pembina,  75  Fond  du  Lac  and  1,025 
Pillager,  all  located  on  1,000  square  miles  of  some  of  the  best  land  in  northern 
Minnesota,  where  they  have  received  allotments.  About  700  have  removed 
thither  under  the  agreements  of  1889  by  which  large  tracts  of  land  were  ceded 
to  the  United  States  by  the  Chippewas,  and  they  were  given  the  option  of 
removing  to  White  Earth  or  to  Red  Lake,  or  of  taking  allotments  on  the  ceded 
lands.  These  Indians  support  themselves  mainly  by  agriculture,  with  some 
lumbering,  are  quite  advanced  in  civilization,  and  have  210  children  in  the  three 
government  boarding  schools,  eighty-six  in  a  mission  school  and  many  others 
in  eastern  schools.  When  the  largest  building  (recently  burned)  is  replaced,  it 
will  givf:  capacity  in  1900  for  100  more  pupils. 

There  are  also  926  Mille  Lacs  Chippewas,  who  are  miserable  vagrants,  in  the 
vicinity  of  Mille  Lacs,  where  they  once  had  a  reservation. 


It: 


YAKIMA  AGENCY 

The  Yakima  Agency  is  situated  in  the  southern  part  of  Washington,  not  far 
from  the  Columbia  River.    It  is  one  of  the  largest  agencies,  there  being  2,343 


{i.iJ>^\.^tSdiL. . 


1     '      t 


136 


THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


Indians  here,  to  which  sl'ould  be  added  200  Wenatchie  Indians  belonging  here, 
who  refuse  to  come  to  the  reservation  and  are  living  on  the  Wenatchie  liiver. 
The  tribes  include  Yakinia  (Snahaptian),  Wasco  (Chinookan),  Klikitat,  ond 
Paloos  (Salishan),  and  a  number  of  other  fragments — Wakashan,  Shof  ho- 
nean,  etc. 

In  1892  the  first  allotments  of  land  were  made,  numbering  1,862.  There 
were  many  Indians  who  at  that  time  refused  the^e  allotments,  but  ifterward 
they  changed  their  minds,  and  607  were  made  in  1898.  This  is  practically  all  of 
the  land  fit  for  anything,  and,  indeed,  many  of  the  allotments  are  of  desert, 
wholly  without  water  or  access  to  water.  Two  years  ago  commissioners  were 
appointed  to  treat  with  the  Indians  for  the  surplus  land,  but  no  agreemrnf  has 
yet  been  made,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  Indians  claim  more  land  than  is 
covered  by  the  present  boundaries.  The  old  Indians  are  able  to  point  out 
monuments  erected  many  years  ago  by  the  government  to  mark  their  lands,  and 
a  careful  examination  of  these  boundaries  by  their  agent  shows  that  the  Indians 
have  unquestionable  right  on  their  side.  This  dissatisfaction  affects  materially 
their  interest  in  the  improvement  of  their  land,  and  it  should  be  settled  at  once. 

Some  of  the  land  would  be  well  fitted  for  agriculture  if  more  adequate 
facilities  for  irrigation  could  be  provided,  as  the  results  upon  irrigated  lands 
show  good  returns  for  labor  expended.  During  the  last  year  80,000  bushels  of 
wheat,  20,000  bushels  of  oats  and  other  grain,  1,000  bushels  of  corn,  12,000 
bushels  of  vegetables,  and  25,000  tons  of  hay  were  raised  upon  the  reservation. 

The  Indians  of  the  Yakima  agency  own  5,000  head  of  cattle  and  4,000  sheep. 
They  are,  as  a  rule,  a  quiet,  law-abiding  people  and  seem  anxious  to  learn  what 
they  call  "  Government  Rule."  They  have  great  confidence  in  the  agent  and 
would  become  good  citizens  if  their  difficulties  could  be  promptly  and  fairly 
adjusted. 

There  is  one  government  boarding  school  on  this  reservation,  reported  as 
having  a  capacity  of  125,  but  it  ought  not  to  have  more  than  107.  The  enroll- 
ment for  the  past  year  is  131  and  the  average  attendance  79.  The  decreased 
attendance  was  in  part  due  to  sickness.  The  Indians  take  their  children  away 
from  the  reservation  during  the  months  of  September  to  pick  hops,  so  that 
practically  there  are  only  nine  months  of  school.  Some  of  the  school  buildings 
are  very  poorly  constructed  and  even  unsafe  in  storms.  The  children  are 
greatly  crowded.    The  general  health  of  the  tribe  is  very  good. 


YANKTON  AGENCY 

One  thousand  seven  hundred  and  one  Yankton  Sioux  occupy  the  Yankton 
reservation  in  the  southeastern  corner  of  South  Dakota.  Their  lands  have  been 
allotted  to  these  Indians;  they  live  in  a  civilized  way,  and  have  taken  hold  of 


THE  RESERVATIONS 


'37 


farming  fairly  well,  though  they  still  receive  small  rations.  Their  last  reported 
yield  of  wheat  was  18,000  bushels,  and  of  corn  6q,ooo  bushels,  besides  other 
crops.  They  are  just  getting  a  start  in  cattle,  owning  1,000  head,  of  which  700 
were  issued  to  them  this  year.  Their  reservation  might  yield  abundant  crops  of 
hay,  just  as  the  different  school  farms,  which  receive  close  watching  and  are 
favorably  situated,  produce  good  crops. 

The  children  of  school  age  on  this  reservation  number  429.  There  are  two 
boarding  schools,  of  which  the  government  school  has  an  average  attendance  of 
119,  and  the  St.  Paul's  Episcopal  school  an  average  attendance  of  fifty-two.  At 
these  schools,  as  at  most  other  boarding  schools  on  Indian  reservations,  the  boys 
are  taught  farming  and  raise  successful  crops. 

The  health  of  these  Indians  appears  to  be  fairly  good;  the  population  at  the 
end  of  the  year  i8q8  was  the  same  as  at  the  end  of  the  year  1897.  In  1899. 
however,  the  number  fell  off  owing  to  an  epidemic  of  measles. 

REMNANTS 

Besides  the  Indians  aiready  referred  to  as  living  on  government  reserva- 
tions there  are  scattered  through  the  settled  country  several  small  communities 
of  aborigines,  which  still  take  pride  in  their  Indian  blood. 

CHIPPEWAS  IN    MICHIGAN 

Living  among  the  whites  in  Michigan  are  about  7,000  Chippewa  Indians  and 
a  few  Pottawatomis  and  Hurons.  A  long  time  ago,  long  before  the  passage  of 
the  Dawes  Severalty  Act,  their  lands  were  given  to  ihese  Indians.  In  most 
cases,  we  are  told,  they  lost  these  lands  by  being  cheated  out  of  them,  and  they 
now  live  a  wandering  life,  supporting  themselves  as  best  they  can  by  such 
industries  as  Indians  commonly  practice,  that  is  by  hunting,  fishing,  basket 
making  and  a  little  labor. 

With  these  may  be  included  850  L'Anse  and  Vieux  Desert,  who  have  a  res- 
ervation of  5,000  acres  and  are  under  the  charge  of  a  government  physician. 

MIAMIS 

In  Indiana  at  the  last  report  there  were  439  Miamis  (Algonquian)  who  were 

self-supporting,  about  whom  it  is   impossible  to  learn  anything  very  definite. 

Some  years  ago  the  annuity  funds  belonging  to  these  people  were  capitalized 

and  paid  over  to  them.    Since  that  time  they  have  been  depending  on  their 

own  exertions. 

NANTICOKE   INDIANS 

On  Indian  River  in  Delaware  are  fifty  or  sixty  descendants  of  the  Nanticoke 
Indians,  none  of  whom,  however,  are  pure  blood.    They  have  wholly  lost  their 


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138 


THE  INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


language  and  have  no  tribal  organiz^'tion,  but  are  clannish,  marrying  chiefly 
among  themselves  and  never  with  the  negroes.  They  are  bright  and  capable, 
and  at  various  times  have  sent  out  colonies  to  different  parts  of  the  country. 
There  is  nothing  particularly  distinctive  about  them.  As  a  rule  they  are  well  to 
do,  earning  their  living  by  farming.    They  belong  to  the  Algonquian  family. 

NOOKSAAK 

In  the  State  of  Washington,  not  under  an  agent,  are  200  Nooksaak  Indians, 

about  which  practically  nothing  is  known.    These  are  people  of  Salishan  stock 

and  it  may  be  presumed  support  themselves  much  after  the  ancient  fashion  of 

their  people.     In  recent  years  a  day  school  has  been  maintained  among  them  by 

private  charity. 

PAMUNKEYS 

Much  less  numerous  than  the  Penobscots,  and  very  much  less  pure  in  blood, 
are  the  remains  of  the  Pamunkey  Indians  (Algonquian),  living  at  what  is  known 
as  Indian  Town  in  Virginia.  Their  settlement  comprises  the  whole  of  a  curiously 
shaped  neck  of  land  extending  into  the  Pamunkey  River  and  adjoining  King 
William  County,  Virginia,  on  the  south.  It  is  about  twenty-one  miles  east  of 
Richmond  and  consists  of  about  800  acres,  of  which  250  are  arable  land,  the 
remainder  being  woodland  and  low,  mrrshy  ground.  Our  knowledge  of  this 
settlement  is  due  to  Mr.  John  Garland  1  uiiard,  who,  in  1893,  investigated  the 
tribe  and  reported  on  it  to  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology. 

He  tells  us  that  no  members  of  the  Pamunkey  tribes  are  of  full  Indian  blood, 
and  that  they  vary  greatly  in  appearance,  some  looking  like  white  people,  while 
others  resemble  Indians.  All  have  a  strong  race  pride,  and  while  they  would 
probably  acknowledge  the  whites  as  their  equals  they  consider  the  blacks  far 
beneath  them.  They  are  governed  by  a  chief,  who  is  assisted  by  a  council 
composed  of  four  men,  elected  every  four  years  by  the  vote  of  the  male 
citizens.  They  have  tribal  laws,  violations  of  which  are  punished  by  fine  or 
banishment. 

The  ownership  of  the  reservation  is  in  common,  the  land  belonging  to  the 
tribe  as  a  whole.  Small  parcels  of  cleared  ground  are  allotted  by  the  chief  and 
council,  to  heads  of  families  who  continue  to  occupy  them  during  their  lives.  If 
the  occupant  dies  leaving  helpless  descendants,  the  land  is  rented  for  their 
benefit. 

The  Pamunkey  was  the  leading  tribe  of  the  Powhatan  Confederacy,  and  is 
practically  the  only  remaining  one  of  this  well-known  group.  There  are  a  few 
other  Indians  living  on  a  small  reservation  on  the  Mataponny,  about  twelve 
miles  north  of  the  Pamunkey  reservation,  and  Mr.  Pollard  believes  that  these 
also  are  remnants  of  the  Pamunkey  tribes. 


ii 


THE   RESERVATlOisS 


I3Q 


SHINNECOCKS 

On  the  south  side  of  Long  Island,  not  far  from  Southampton,  is  a  little 
settlement  of  so-called  Shinnecock  Indians.  They  are  few  in  number  and  none 
of  pure  blood  remain.  Most  of  them  show  evident  traces  of  negro  ancestry 
and  have  long  curling  hair.  They  are  poor  and  thriftless,  earning  a  meager 
subsistence  by  fishing,  clamming,  and  working  along  the  shore,  and  have  about 
them  very  little  of  the  real  Indian. 

With  the  Shinnecocks  are  a  few  Montauks  and  a  few  families  of  Poospa- 
tucks.  They  are  all  Algonquian.  The  reservation  which  they  occupy  contains 
perhaps  450  acres.    The  United  States  exercises  no  jurisdiction  over  them. 

The  last  of  the  pure-blooded  male  Shinnecock  Indians  all  perished  at  one 
time  about  twenty  years  ago.  They  were  working  on  a  vessel  that  had  been 
wrecked  on  the  Long  Island  coast,  and  at  evening  a  part  of  the  wrecking  crew 
went  ashore,  leaving  the  Indians  on  board  the  wreck.  During  the  night  a  storm 
came  up.  It  was  impossible  to  bring  off  the  men  on  board.  The  vessel  broke 
up  and  all  were  drowned. 

WAPANAKI   INDIANS 

At  Old  Town,  Maine,  there  is  a  village  of  450  Penobscots  (Algonquian). 
Among  these  are  a  number  of  Indians  of  pure  blood,  and  the  tribal  language 
and  some  of  the  tribal  customs  are  still  preserved.  They  support  themselves  by 
fishing,  hunting  and  basket  making,  and  being  in  a  country  where  game  is  more 
or  less  abundant,  the  men,  each  autumn,  earn  considerable  sums  by  guiding 
visiting  sportsmen  on  their  trips  into  the  woods.  All  the  Penobscots  speak 
English,  and  all  the  younger  ones  can  read  and  write.  Through  the  kindly 
efforts  of  Mr.  Montague  Chamberlain  of  Cambridge,  Mass.,  the  beginnings  of  a 
public  library  were  recently  secured  for  the  Oldtown  Indians  by  gifts  from  a 
number  of  persons  interested. 

On  Passamaquoddy  Bay  in  Maine  are  the  tribes  of  that  name  known  also  as 
Malisits. 

WINNEBAGOS  IN  WISCONSIN 

In  Wisconsin,  not  under  an  agent,  there  are  about  1,450  Winnebagos 
(Siouan)  and  200  Pottawatomis  (Algonquian).  Over  700  Winnebagos  have 
made  entries  of  homesteads.  The  law  provides  that  they  cannot  sell  their 
homesteads  for  twenty  years  from  date  of  the  patent.  Many  are  vagrants  ; 
others  live  like  poor  white  people,  but  at  least  are  self-supporting. 

Other  eastern  tribal  remnants  concerning  which  not  very  much  is  known 
are  the  Gayhead  Indians  of  Nantucket,  Mass.,  the  Mohegans,  said  to  be  near 


i. 


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I 


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140 


THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


Groton,  Conn.,  and  the  Narragansetts  near  Point  Judith,  Rhode  Island.  Scat- 
tered along  the  coast  of  North  and  South  Carolina  are  some  people  who  call 
themselves  "Croatans,"  or  "Red  Bones,"  and  who  claim  to  be  descendants  of  the 
Indians.    On  a  state  reservation  in  South  Carolina  are  a  few  Catawbas. 

INDIAN   POPULATION 

The  report  of  the  Canadian  Superintendent-General  of  Indian  Affairs  gives 
the  number  of  Indians  in  '.ne  British  possessions  as  about  100,300.  Of  these,  a 
large  majority  are  on  reservations,  usually  of  small  size  and  occupied  by  but  few 
people.  Many  of  the  others — especially  those  on  the  Pacific  Coast — gain  their 
living  by  trapping,  hunting  and  fishing  ;  others  work  for  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany, and  a  considerable  number  occupy  farms,  which  they  seem  to  be  striving 
hard  to  cultivate  and  improve. 

The  health  of  the  Canadian  Indians  is  no  more  satisfactory  than  among 
those  living  in  the  United  States.  The  population  there  is  about  stationary — for 
the  last  year  showing  a  small  decrease. 

The  enumerations  of  the  two  governments,  therefore,  give  the  Indians  living 
on  reservations,  or  at  least  countable,  as  about  363,000.  Besides  these,  there  are 
some  additional  thousands  who  are  not  counted,  together  with  the  Eskimo,  who, 
in  all,  may  number  20,000 — a  grand  total  of,  perhaps,  390,000,  or  not  over  400,000. 
A  considerable  number  of  these  are  mixed  bloods,  while  over  20,000  are  whites 
or  Negroes,  some  without  Indian  blood.  We  may,  therefore,  roughly  assume  the 
Indian  population  of  North  America,  north  of  Mexico,  including  the  mixed 
bloods,  to  be  in  the  neighborhood  of  370,000  people. 


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CHAPTER  IX 


LIFE  ON  THE  RESERVATION 

Across  the  average  Indian  reservation  one  may  ride  a  horse  in  a  day,  and 
to  the  Indian  this  seems  a  small  tract  of  country.  The  dweller  in  a  city,  who,  to 
reach  his  place  of  business  and  to  return  to  his  home,  swiftly  travels  a  dozen  or 
twenty  miles  daily  in  the  cars,  or  one  in  a  country  town,  who  walks  to  his  store 
in  the  morning  and  back  to  his  house  for  lunch,  might  feel  that  on  a  reservation 
there  was  too  much  room  for  him,  but  the  Indian  was  trained  in  a  different 
school.  The  boundless  prairie  was  his  to  travel  over  in  what  direction  and  for 
what  distance  he  pleased.  It  was  true  that,  if  he  went  too  far,  he  might  encroach 
on  the  territory  of  some  hostile  neighbor,  and  be  obliged  to  flee,  to  fight  or  to 
die,  but  after  all,  people  on  the  prairie  were  not  many,  and  he  always  had  faith 
that  he  would  discern  the  enemy  before  he  himself  was  seen.  In  the  forest  or 
among  the  mountains  it  was  the  same.  Everywhere  he  enjoyed  the  utmost 
measure  of  individual  freedom. 

Things  are  very  different  now.  There  are  limits — bounds  which  he  may  not 
pass.  War  journeys  are  of  course  unknown,  but  if  he  desires  to  pay  a  visit  to 
some  tribe  with  which  he  is  on  friendly  terms,  he  is  no  longer  free  to  pack  his 
horses  and  wander  away  to  be  gone  as  long  as  may  suit  his  pleasure.  He  must 
ask  permission,  he  must  get  a  pass  from  the  agent — one  of  those  hated  and 
mysterious  bits  of  paper,  which  tells  to  the  white  men  to  whom  he  shows  it, 
some  story  that  he  does  not  understand,  and  which,  he  suspects,  reveals  to  them 
all  the  secrets  of  his  life — a  paper  which  he  yet  respects  and  fears  for  its  hidden 
power.  I  shall  not  forget  the  awed  manner  in  which  a  man  once  told  of  how  a 
drunken  and  rowdy  cowboy,  to  whom  he  showed  his  pass,  threw  it  on  the  ground 
after  reading  it,  and  then  shot  a  hole  through  it  with  his  revolver. 

On  the  reservation  the  old  Indian  feels  himself  a  prisoner;  the  restrictions 

are  extremely  irksome,  and,  like  a  prisoner,  he  longs  to  escape.     For  all  his  life, 

until  these  new  conditions  arose,  he  had  been  free  to  go  where  he  liked,  to 

wander  according  to  his  will,  to  hunt  as  he  pleased.    Now  he  can  do  none  of 

these.     He  might  easily  escape  from  the  agency,  but  where  could  he  go?    The 

country  is  bare  of  game,  and  he  could  obtain  no  food;  it  is  full  of  white  men, 

one  of  whom  he  fears  might  ask    for  his  pass,  and,  if  he  could  not   produce 

it,  might  take   him   prisoner  and  throw  him   into  jail,  or  do  some  other  evil 

thing  to  him,  which  he  dreads  the   more  becau.se  he  does  not  know  what  it 

might  be.      If  he  went   to  some   other  agency  to  visit  his   friends  he   knows 

by  experience  that  before  he   had  been    there  long  a  policeman  would  take 

141 


I 


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1 

5 

i 

1 

on 

; 

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; 

t      ' 

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M 


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142 


THE  INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


him  to  the  agent,  who,  if  he  had  no  paper,  might  put  him  in  the  jail,  or 
at  least  would  send  him  away — perhaps  under  police  escort.  It  is  safer  to 
remain  at  home,  unless  he  can  get  a  pass  from  his  agent,  but  as  often  as  he  can 
get  this,  he  travels  off  to  visit  or  to  hunt,  to  get  away  from  his  prison,  and  once 
more  to  be  on  the  move.  With  the  visiting  Indian  go  his  wives,  his  children 
and  as  large  a  body  of  his  relations  and  friends  as  he  can  persuade  the  agent  to 
include  in  his  pass. 

A  few  years  ago  such  visits  of  small  parties  were  constantly  exchanged 
between  the  tribes,  and  the  practice  to  some  extent  continues  to-day,  but  all 
agents  are  doing  what  they  can  to  discourage  it,  and  it  has  been  very  much 
lessened.  It  is  an  obvious  evil,  keeping  up  the  old  roaming  habit,  taking  the 
visitors  away  from  their  work,  stopping  that  of  the  visited  and  prompting  th(;m 
to  pay  visits  in  return.  It  is  well  that  it  should  be  discouraged  so  far  as  possible. 
To-day  the  Indian's  place  is  at  home. 

Sometimes  such  visits  may  do  some  good  by  stimulating  the  ambition  of  one 
of  the  tribes  concerned,  as  happened  not  long  ago  in  the  case  of  a  tribe  which 
years  before  had  been  hostile,  but  at  last,  beaten  in  war,  had  surrendered. 
They  have  since  been  supported  by  the  government,  but  have  had  no  special 
encouragement  to  improve  and  have  made  no  progress.  They  are  still  in  the 
blanket  stage.  To  them  came  a  party  of  visitors  from  a  tribe  which  in  the  last 
wars  had  been  allies  of  the  home  tribe  and  had  surrendered  at  about  the  same 
time.  The  visiting  tribe,  however,  had  been  well  handled  and  the  government 
had  supplied  them  with  implements  and  with  cattle  so  that  they  had  done  well. 
The  contrast  between  the  two  tribes  was  striking.  Of  the  visitors  the  men  all 
had  their  hair  cut  and  were  attired  in  complete  civilized  garb  ;  their  women  rode 
in  wagons  and  wore  calico  dresses,  sunbonnets  and  shoes.  The  hosts  were 
costumed  as  in  the  days  of  their  pristine  savagery,  with  leggings,  breech  clout 
and  blanket,  their  women,  of  course,  wearing  the  old-time  dress.  The  difference 
in  condition  was  interesting,  but  still  more  so  was  the  astonishment,  curiosity 
and  regretful  envy  of  the  people  who  were  receiving  their  old  allies,  when  they 
saw  the  change  that  had  taken  place  in  their  condition  and  ways  of  life,  and 
heard  from  them  of  their  well-being  and  the  progress  on  their  reservati  A 

visit  such  as  this,  presenting  so  sharp  an  object  lesson  to  the  entertaining 
did   them   no   harm,  but  rather  good,   for  by  showing  the   more   prosperous 
situation  of  their  old  friends,  it  must  have  awakened  in  them  a  wish  to  better 
their  own  condition. 

The  confinement  of  a  reservation  is  hard  to  bear,  and  its  monotony  makes  it 
more  so.  In  the  old  days  there  was  always  something  going  on  ;  now  nothing 
happens.  Then,  war  parties  were  constantly  setting  out  and  returning  with 
reports  of  success  or  failure,  enemies  came  and  attacked  the  camp  or  tried  to 


LIFE  ON  THE  RESERVATION 


'43 


steal  horses  and  were  driven  off,  or,  if  successful  in  their  attempts,  were  pursued. 
The  movements  of  the  game,  the  success  of  hunting  parties,  discussions  as  to 
what  orders  the  chiefs  ought  to  issue  or  were  Iiki;ly  to,  filled  the  cvery-day  life 
of  the  camp  with  an  interest  that  all  shared.  Now,  the  talk  among  the  men  and 
women — when  it  is  not  about  the  good  old  times — is  of  issue  day,  that  the 
rations  are  not  large  enough  to  keep  the  people  from  being  hungry  for  a  part  of 
the  time,  that  the  employees  do  not  treat  all  alike  and  fail  to  issue  the  food 
fairly,  giving  to  favorites  and  relations  more  than  their  share,  so  that,  for  the 
poor  and  the  old,  who  are  likely  to  be  the  last  to  present  themselves  at  the 
issue  house,  there  is  left  less  than  the  quantity  that  they  are  entitled  to.  The 
cattle  are  talked  of— if  the  tribe  possesses  any — their  care  and  the  prospects  of  a 
good  or  bad  calf  crop,  though  this  is  a  matter  that  interests  chiefly  the  younger 
men,  who  know  no  freedom  greater  than  that  offered  by  the  reservation  of 
to-day. 

The  lack  of  sufiftcient  food — on  many  reservations — and  the  manner  of  life 
— in  houses,  with  the  increase  of  sickness  inevitable  from  the  greater  exposure 
and  the  sharp  changes  of  temperature  between  hot,  sweltering  rooms  and  the 
bitter  cold  of  the  open  air  in  winter— also  tend  to  make  life  on  the  reser- 
vation a  hard  one.  Perhaps  it  is  not  strange  that  the  men  often  seek  a 
temporary  excitement  and  forgetfulness  in  drink,  so  that  on  many  reservations, 
where  towns  and  their  saloons  are  within  easy  reach,  intemperance  is  rife. 

Among  the  various  evils  brought  to  the  Indians  by  the  white  man,  it  would 
be  hard  to  say  which  is  the  worst,  but  certainly  in  many  tribes  this  bad 
eminence  may  be  given  to  liquor,  for  whisky-drinking  is  most  truly  the  Indian's 
curse,  and  the  liquor  traffic  is  one  of  the  matters  that  give  unending  care  and 
trouble  to  the  thoughtful  and  interested  Indian  agent.  It  is  exceedingly  difficult 
to  secure  evidence  against  the  liquor-sellers  which  will  bear  the  test  of  judicial 
examination,  and  besides  this,  in  many  sections  of  the  country,  juries  are  slow  to 
credit  Indian  testimony  and  fail  to  convict;  while,  even  if  a  conviction  is  had,  the 
judge  often  makes  the  sentences  so  light  that  they  have  little  effect  in  deterring 
other  persons  from  engaging  in  the  profitable  traffic. 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  induce  a  drinking  Indian  to  testify  against  a  man 
who  has  sold  him  liquor,  and  evidence  must  be  obtained  by  the  agent  in  some 
other  way,  usually  by  detective  work  on  his  part,  which  is  certainly  outside  of 
his  regular  duties.  The  Department  of  Justice,  to  which  belongs  the  custody 
and  the  trial  of  prisoners  arrested  for  this  offense,  too  often  appears  to  take 
little  interest  in  the  affair.  Often  the  chief  officer  of  a  district  in  which  liquor 
selling  goes  on  shares  the  local  sentiment,  that  if  an  Indian  can  pay  for  liquor 
he  should  be  allowed  to  purchase  it,  and  fails  to  respond  to  the  call  of  an  agent 
who  may  ask  him  for  help  in  securing  evidence,  or  in  making  an  arrest. 


^ 


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ii  / 


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):      , 


■    ( 


I 


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I  I 


144 


THE  INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


Often  the  trial  of  the  accused  takes  place  in  a  town  quite  distant  from  the 
rt-servation  from  which  the  witnesses  and  their  interpreter  must  be  sent,  and 
there  is  no  money  for  railway  fares  and  for  maintenance  of  the  witnesses  for  the 
prosecution.  The  Indian  lUireau  has  usually  no  funds  applicable  for  this 
purpose,  and  often  the  agent  has  to  put  his  hand  in  his  pocket  to  advance  out 
of  his  meaj{er  salary  the  sums  needed  to  transport  and  subsist  his  witnesses,  and 
then  must  take  his  chances  of  beinjf  reimbursed  at  some  indefinite  and  later  day. 

An  Indian  who  has  acquired  a  taste  for  liquor  is  not  unlike  a  white  man  who 
is  a  prey  to  the  same  tlisease;  he  will  sell  his  horse  or  his  saddle  for  two  or  three 
bottles  of  whisky.  When  drunk,  he  is  likely  to  fi^iht  with  his  fellows,  to  beat  his 
wife,  to  smash  the  furniture  in  his  house,  or  to  run  his  horse  to  death.  In  his 
sober  moments  he  ro^jrcts  the  harm  that  he  tlid  when  drunk,  but  this  does  not 
prevent  him  from  drinking  at  the  next  opportunity. 

Where  agents  are  vigilant  and  persistent  in  their  efforts  against  whisky 
sellers,  these  take  unusual  precautions  to  avoid  committing  acts  which  may  be 
used  against  them.  If  an  Indian  wants  to  purchase  liquor  over  the  counter,  the 
whisky  man  may  refuse  to  sell,  but  after  the  Indian  has  gone,  the  barkeeper  will 
perhaps  go  out  with  the  desired  number  of  bottles,  and  going  to  some  nearby 
prairie  dog  hole  or  particular  spot  in  the  brush,  he  will  find  there  the  requisite 
number  of  dollars,  or  certain  property  agreed  on,  which  he  will  take  away, 
leaving  the  bottles  to  be  removed  by  the  purchaser.  Or  the  barkeeper  may 
refuse  to  sell,  and  at  the  same  time  may  set  out  on  the  counter  or  on  the  floor 
the  liquor  asked  for,  and  then,  leaving  the  room,  will  find  on  his  return  that  the 
bottles  are  gone,  and  the  money  is  in  its  place.  Of  course,  where  allotments 
have  been  made  and  the  Indians  are  citizens,  the  statutes  against  the  selling  of 
liquor  to  Indians  often  are  laughed  at,  and  all  who  desire  to  get  drunk  do  so  at 
will. 

The  confinement,  the  monotony,  the  sickness,  the  insufficient  food,  and  the 
general  hopelessness  of  it  all  make  life  on  the  reservation  dreary  enough,  for  in 
most  cases  the  people  have  not  yet  reached  a  point  where  they  have  anything  to 
look  forward  to. 


w 


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CIIIKF  (lOKS  TO  WAR 

ROSEIllU  SlOfX 


II 


n 


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ii 


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CHAITEK  X 


THE  AC.RNTS  RULE 

A  study  of  the  de<tcriptions  of  the  various  agencies  already  Kivon  will  present 
to  the  reader  some  notion  of  the  condition  of  the  different  tribes  to-day.  It 
must  be  acknowled(;(*d  that  the  conclusions  drawn  from  such  a  study  arc  not 
very  satisfactory,  yet  pt-rhaps  after  all  the  averaR''  of  advance  is  greater  than  we 
have  any  reason  to  expect,  when  we  consider  past  methods,  l-or  many  years  the 
ofl'icials  sent  out  to  the  different  agencies  for  the  purpose  of  civilizin^j  these 
people  were  usually  not  men  selected  because  they  possessed  any  of  the 
qualifications  needed  for  this  peculiarly  delicate  and  difficult  work;  but  were 
minor  politicians  "out  of  a  job."  The  position  of  Indian  agent  was  long  treated 
by  the  party  in  power  as  a  government  reward  for  political  services  performed, 
and  to  some  extent  it  is  so  regarded  still.  In  view  of  the  labors,  the  responsi- 
bilities and  the  many  annoyances,  the  post  is  exceedingly  ill  paid,  yet  there  still 
hangs  about  the  title  "Indian  agent"  a  traditional  flavor  of  richness,  which  comes 
down  from  the  days  when  the  opportunities  for  pickings  and  stealings  were 
frequent  and  were  reputed  well  worth  having,  and  which  long  rendered  it 
attractive  to  many.  The  Indian  agents  of  the  present  day  are  of  far  higher 
character  than  those  of  old  times,  yet  even  now  there  are  too  many  who,  while 
not  actively  bad,  are  anxious  to  get  along  as  easily  as  possible,  and  to  earn  their 
pay  with  as  little  effort  as  they  can. 

Then,  too,  there  are  still  means  by  which  a  dishonest  agent,  forgetting 
his  duty  to  his  people,  may  secure  for  himself  additions  to  his  income.  I 
learned  not  very  long  ago  of  one  who  was  offered  $i,cxx)  a  year  if  he  would 
refrain  from  driving  away  the  white  men's  herds  which  trespassed  on  the 
unfenced  reservation  from  the  surrounding  overstocked  range.  The  reservation 
was  overrun  with  these  cattle,  which  were  eating  the  grass  belonging  to  the 
Indians  and  mingling  with  their  cattle  In  times  of  storm  or  during  the  roundup, 
these  Indian  cattle  drifted,  or  were  driven  off  with  those  belonging  to  the  white 
men.  It  is  the  agent's  duty  to  see  that  his  reservation  is  not  trespassed  on  and 
to  drive  off  all  white  men's  stock,  for  the  Indian  cuttle  which  wander  far  from  a 
reservation  are  commonly  used  for  beef  by  the  roundup  outfits,  or  the  white 
ranchers,  and  few  are  ever  recovered. 

An  agent  whose  people  have  cattle  may  also  "stand  in"  with  the  beef 
contractor  to  his  own  profit.  Beef  cattle  are  often  delivered  to  the  agency  in 
monthly  installments  and  sometimes  the  contractor  makes  an  arrangement  with 
the  agent  by  which  he  holds  the  beeves  to  fill  his  whole  contract  on  the  reserva- 

'45 


,11 


|! 


I 


'M 

I  ^  I 


ii'' 


7   ! 


I 


146 


THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


tion,  fattening  them  there  on  the  Indians'  grass,  for  the  deliveries  that  he  may 
have  to  make  through  the  year.  With  the  beef — if  the  agent  will  let  him — he 
may  perhaps  drive  on  a  herd  of  cows,  and,  of  course,  he  must  have  a  force  of 
cowboys  to  care  for  the  stock.  When  this  happens,  it  is  observed  that  the 
percentage  of  calves  in  the  contractor's  herd  becomes  unusually  large,  while  the 
proportion  of  cows  without  calves  in  the  Indians'  herd  is  correspondingly  great. 
If  the  contractor's  cowboys  are  good  rustlers,  the  beef  contract  thus  yields  him 
a  double  profit,  and  the  agent  may  receive  his  share  of  this,  or  what  is  slangily 
called  a  "rake-off." 

Even  within  modern  times  instances  of  the  surreptitious  removal  of  agency 
supplies  from  the  warehouse  have  been  not  altogether  unknown,  the  agent 
stealing  these  things  to  sell  for  cash  to  others. 

Not  many  years  ago  a  contract  for  ditch  building  was  given  out  for  a 
certain  reservation,  the  government  stipulating  that  so  far  as  practicable  the 
contractor  should  employ  Indian  labor.  A  large  force  of  Indians  with  their 
teams  was  hired  and  set  to  work  on  the  ditch.  They  worked  long  and  hard,  but 
when  they  applied  to  the  contractor  for  pay,  he  told  them  that  they  must  go  to 
the  agent.  The  agent  said  that  he  had  no  money  for  them  and  referred  them 
back  to  the  contractor,  who  again  sent  them  to  the  agent.  After  being  sent  back 
and  forth  in  this  way  several  times,  the  der.ials  and  delays  of  the  two  white  men 
so  confused  and  discouraged  the  Indians  that  they  abandoned  their  fruitless 
quest  for  pay.  It  was  learned  on  excellent  r.uthority  that  the  time  of  the  laborers 
had  never  been  kept  at  all,  showing  that  from  the  first  there  had  been  no  inten- 
tion of  paying  them.  In  this  case  it  is  assumed  that  agent  and  contractor 
divided  profits. 

It  may  naturally  be  asked,  how  can  such  things  be  done  without  becoming 
known?  and  when  known  does  not  the  agent  lose  his  place?  They  do  not 
become  known  because  there  is  no  one  to  complain  of  any  lapses  that  the  agent 
may  be  guilty  of.  The  Indians  do  not  understanil  enough  about  white  men's 
ways  to  know  just  what  an  agent  may  or  may  not  do.  Certain  things  which  to 
them  may  appear  wrong  are  very  likely  quite  legitimate  ;  others,  which  they 
understand  quite  as  little,  may  be  altogether  bad.  Moreover  all  persons  living 
on  a  reservation  are  absolutely  in  the  power  of  the  agent.  If  he  wishes,  he  may 
make  life  utterly  miserable  fo/  them,  and  he  always  has  it  in  his  power  to 
frighten  them  by  threats  of  arrest,  jail  and  indefinite  punishment,  or,  in  the  case 
of  a  white  man,  of  discharge  from  his  position,  or  of  expulsion  from  the 
reservation,  or  arrest  for  some  imputed  crime.  Within  his  little  dominion,  an 
unscrupulous  agent  has  as  much  power  and  opportunity  for  tyranny  as  a  chief 
of  police  in  a  Russian  town.  He  can  make  life  not  at  all  worth  living  for  the 
man  who  takes  an  active  open  stand  against  him.    If,  therefore,  an  intelligent 


THE  AGENT'S   RULE 


147 


person  detects  wrongful  acts  on  the  part  of  an  agent  he  is  slow  to  speak  of  them 
above  his  breath.  The  Indian  office  is  constantly  receiving  complaints  of  the 
condition  of  affairs  of  agencies,  looks  upon  them  as  a  matter  of  course, 
receives  many  that  arc  without  foundation,  and  goes  about  the  work 
of  investigating  with  deliberation.  The  man  who  thinks  of  complaining 
against  the  acts  of  an  agent  knows  that  if  he  does  so,  his  complaint 
as  soon  as  received  will  be  sent  to  the  agent  for  explanation,  and 
that  whether  the  explanation  is  or  is  not  satisfactory  to  the  Indian 
office,  he  has  made  the  agent  his  enemy.  Even  if  the  complaining  individual 
makes  out  a  prima  facie  case,  it  may  be  months  or  a  year  before  the  matter 
is  decided,  snd  during  all  that  time  the  agent  remains  in  office,  with  full 
power  to  lead  the  complaining  individual  as  unhappy  a  life  as  he  will.  Even  if  he 
should  ultimately  be  removed  he  would  have  had  his  full  revenge.  Besides  this, 
there  are  always  people  whom  a  bad  agent  can  persuade  to  testify  in  his  behalf. 
The  employees,  having  the  fear  of  losing  their  position  always  before  them,  are 
pretty  certain  to  be  his  witnesses  and  he  can  always  hire  some  Indians  to  tell  his 
story.  The  inspector  who  investigates  the  case  is  likely  to  be  prejudiced  in 
favor  of  the  white  man,  and  on  his  cross-examination  of  the  witnesses  may 
bully  and  browbeat  them,  frightening  them  so  that  their  manner  throws  doubt 
on  their  testimony;  or  the  interpreter  may  be  the  agent's  tool  and  change  the 
Indian's  testimony.  On  the  whole,  therefore,  it  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  secure 
satisfactory  evidence  of  wrong-doing  by  an  agent  on  his  own  reservation.  One 
may  learn  from  trustworthy  persons  of  things  that  are  wrong,  but  they  will  talk 
freely  only  on  the  promise  that  their  names  shall  not  be  revealed.  They  are 
afraid  to  take  a  stand  which  will  surely  subject  them  and  their  wives  and  children 
to  ill  treatment  of  one  sort  and  another,  and  which,  besides,  will  give  them  a 
bad  name  as  "kickers"  with  tne  next  agent.  So  they  get  along  as  well  as  they 
can,  knowing  that  the  attempt  to  right  the  wrongs  may  perhaps  do  no  good  and 
will  certainly  cause  them  great  suffering.  Their  course  is  natural  enough,  and 
quite  what  most  other  people  would  do  under  like  circumstances.  This  indicates 
something  of  the  difficulty  of  improving  matters  which  go  wrong  on  an  Indian 
agency,  where  an  agent  is  practically  unwatched  and  is  the  absolute  ruler  of  the 
people  under  him.  Under  such  a  system  the  wonder  is  not  that  so  much,  but 
that  so  little,  has  been  done  that  is  wrong. 

Although  the  character  of  Indian  agents  has  been  steadily  improving  for 
many  years  past,  the  system  is  still  essentially  wrong  in  the  manner  in  which 
they  are  chosen,  in  the  small  pay  that  they  receive  and  in  the  frequent  changes 
that  are  made.  The  duties  of  an  agent  demand  a  very  high  class  man  ;  besides 
the  essentials  of  integrity  and  capacity,  he  should  feel  an  interest  in  the  work 
and  should  possess  a  business  experience,  an  understanding  of  how  to  handle 


II 


148 


THE  INDIANS  OI-   TO-DAY 


'Pi 


r 


¥' 


)» 


men,  and  infinite  tact  and  patience.  To-day  there  are  many  agents  who  possess 
these  good  qualities,  or  some  of  them ;  yet  it  is  more  by  good  fortune  than  by 
wise  judgment  that  they  have  been  chosen  for  their  jxisitions,  and  that  they  are 
willing  to  remain  in  the  service,  when  in  other  callings  they  might  earn  more 
money,  though  they  could  not  do  nearly  so  much  good  as  they  are  doing  now. 

One  of  the  most  unfortunate  features  of  the  Indian  service  is  to  be  found  in 
the  short  tenure  of  office  by  the  agent;  in  the  fact  that  the  good  agent  is  likely 
to  be  replaced  by  a  new  man — who  may  be  good,  indifferent,  or  bad — at  the  end 
of  four  years,  at  the  very  time  when  he  is  in  a  position  to  do  the  very  best  work 
for  his  people.  He  has  been  with  them  long  enough  to  know,  and  be  known  by, 
them.  He  has  learned  their  needs,  the  different  directions  in  which  they  require 
help  and  encouragement;  their  weak  points,  where  they  must  be  checked  and 
dealt  with  tirmly.  In  fact,  at  the  end  of  four  years,  he  is  in  a  position  to  do  for 
them  in  four  years  more  as  much  as  an  equally  good  man  newly  appointed  could 
accomplish  in  six  or  eight.  He  has  literally  served  his  apprenticeship,  has 
learned  the  business  and  is  now  qualified  to  carry  it  on  with  intelligence  and 
success,  and  yet,  when  election  comes,  he  is  likely  to  be  promptly  turned  out  and 
another  green  apprentice  to  be  put  in  his  place,  the  newcomer  in  turn  to  acquire 
his  knowledge  and  when  he  has  gained  it,  to  go.  While  this  happens  in  one 
administration  after  another,  the  Indians  make  no  progress  and  are  blamed  for 
the  failure,  and  the  government  is,  in  fact,  paying  the  tuition  bills  of  these 
different  apprentices  in  the  shape  of  continued  appropriations  for  Indian  sup- 
port. It  is  a  curious  fact  that  no  one  seems  to  have  connected  the  slow 
progress  of  the  Indians,  and  their  consequent  expense  to  the  government  of  the 
United  States,  with  the  small  local  politics  of  the  country,  or  to  have  realized 
that  in  a  considerable  portion  of  the  annual  appropriations  for  Indians  to-day, 
the  government  is  actually  paying  the  political  expenses,  past  or  present,  of  the 
politicians  of  the  States  in  which  the  various  reservations  are  situated.  When 
this  is  once  understood,  there  will  probably  be  a  change  in  the  methods  of 
appointing  and  retaining  agents. 

No  one  who  is  not  familiar  with  Indian  character  and  with  the  conditions 
on  a  reservation  can  quite  comprehend  the  relation  which  ought  to  exist  between 
the  agent  and  his  people.  He  has  a  power  over  them  that  is  absolute.  If  he 
thinks  best  he  can  cut  off  their  supply  of  food  at  an  hour's  notice  ;  he  can  shut 
up  in  the  guard  house  any  man  whom  he  chooses,  can  divorce  any  couple,  can 
deprive  any  one  of  his  tools  or  stock  or  house.  Over  a  white  man  married  to 
an  Indian  woman  he  has  the  same  power,  and  in  addition  he  may  expel  him 
from  the  reservation,  or  confine  him  in  the  guard  house  f)r  an  indefinite 
period. 

Now  the  people  on  the  reservation  realize  as  no  one  else  ran  this  power  of 


.( 


il 


I'ooK  iiih; 

KllSKIll'll    MlllIN 


^1    T: 


1 


i', 


j 

i 

!' 

i'* 

it  i  1 

mm    9   ; 

;      \ 

B  i 

\   I 

w  1 

\ 


\ 


il 


i 


^ffi^ 


il 


THE  AGENT'S  RULE 


149 


the  agent,  and  are  naturally  very  much  afraid  to  do  anything  to  incur  his 
displeasure.  They  understand  that  they  are  utterly  dependent  upon  him  for 
every  good  thing,  that  there  is  nothing  which  they  can  demand  as  a  right,  but 
that  everything  must  come  by  his  favor.  The  tendency  of  this  feeling  is  to 
develop  among  the  men  a  spirit  of  servility  and  cringing  to  an  agent  who 
encourages  it,  while  those  who  are  more  sturdy  and  independv  nt  keep  away 
from  the  agency  and  see  as  little  of  him  as  possible. 

Under  the  best  circumstances  the  relations  between  the  agent  and  his  Indians 
will  be  close.  They  will  think  of  him  as  their  father,  and  he  will  have  for  them 
sympathy  and  affection.  He  should  be  in  close  personal  touch  with  each  man 
on  the  reserve,  and  should  encourage  each  one  to  talk  to  him  about  his  personal 
affairs  and  to  ask  advice  about  them.  While  the  agent's  charge  is  the  tribe  as 
a  whole,  and  he  should  never  have  among  its  members  favorites  to  whom  he 
grants  special  privileges,  yet  there  is  no  way  in  which  he  can  gain  so  strong  a 
hold  on  the  tribe  at  large  as  by  securing  the  confidence  and  affection  of  its 
individual  members.  The  Indian  is  very  greatly  encouraged,  pleastd  and 
strengthened  if  he  believes  that  his  agent  is  interested  in  his  personal  affairs,  is 
watching  him  to  see  whether  he  does  well  or  ill,  and  will  be  glad  or  grieved, 
according  to  his  success  or  failure. 

In  the  appointment  of  the  inspectors  and  special  agents,  who  are  under  the 
direct  authority  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  politics  too  often  exercises  an 
influence  very  detrimental  to  the  Indian  service.  Some  of  these  officials  are 
capable  and  efficient  and  have  reached  their  positions  in  due  course  of 
promotion,  through  interest  in  their  work,  devotion  to  duty  and  faithful 
service;  they  are  men  who  do  a  great  work  for  the  advancement  of  the  Indian. 
Others,  who  have  received  their  appointment  through  political  or  sectarian 
influence,  are  inefficient,  inflated  with  a  sense  of  their  own  importance,  talking 
much  but  doing  nothing,  and  respected  neither  in  the  field  where  their 
work  is,  nor  in  Washington  where  their  reports  are  known.  They  are  so 
much  dead  weight  which  the  department  is  obliged  to  carry  and  the  government 
to  pay  for. 

It  must  constantly  be  remembered  that  the  Indian,  in  struggling  with  the 
common  affairs  of  civilized  life,  that  is,  with  the  problems  of  self-support,  is 
dealing  with  matters  about  which  he  knows  nothing,  and  that,  therefore,  in 
performing  these  commonest  operations,  he  makes  continual  blunders  and 
mistakes,  and  meets  with  frequent  discouragements  and  failures.  More  than 
almost  anything  else,  therefore,  the  man  who  is  really  trying  to  get  ahead  needs 
explanation  of  his  failures  and  encouragement  and  cheering  to  renewed  effort. 
To  scold  or  reprove  him  for  some  mistake  that  appears  stupid  does  no  good ; 
but  to  show  him  why  it  was  stupid,  to  explain  what  he  ought  to  have  done,  and 


!l 


m 


150 


THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


^ 


M 


to  advise  him  to  try  again  in  the  right  manner,  takes  away  the  sting  of  failure 
and  leads  him  to  resolve  that  he  will  try  again  and  will  succeed. 

It  is  a  hard  matter  for  a  white  man  to  view  with  patience  the  way  in  which 
even  the  most  willing?  Indian  goes  about  the  simplest  task,  but  it  is  certain  that 
fault-finding  will  never  accomplish  anything  toward  his  improvement,  while 
patient  instruction  and  encouragement  will  do  much. 

But  while  an  agent  must  appear  kind,  interested  and  sympathetic,  he  must 
not  be  weak  or  vacillating.  Of  all  the  errors  he  can  commit,  this  is  the  worst — 
except  falseness.  He  must  be  just  as  firm  as  he  is  kind,  not  making  up  his  mind 
hastily  about  questions  that  come  up,  but  when  he  has  decided  on  a  course, 
sticking  to  it.  The  old  Indians  will  coax  and  persuade  and  wheedle,  just  as 
spoiled  children  might,  but  they  will  respect  him  the  more  if  he  holds  to  his 
decision,  which  the  event  is  likely  to  show  them  is  a  wise  one. 

The  very  worst  thing  that  an  agent  can  do  is  to  give  his  Indians  cause  to 
think  what  he  says  is  not  always  to  be  relied  on.  If  he  makes  a  direct  promise, 
he  must  keep  it  at  almost  any  cost.  If  he  says  that  he  will  do  something  and 
subsequently  changes  his  mind  about  it,  he  will  never  be  able  to  explain  to  the 
Indian  that  he  has  not  told  an  untruth.  The  fact  will  always  remain  that  he 
promised  and  did  not  perform.  The  agent  will  soon  learn  never  to  make  a 
promise  without  qualifying  it  in  such  a  way  as  to  leave  a  loophole  for  a  change. 

Absolute  truthfulness  and  firmness  will  soon  win  respect  and  confidence,  and 
this  is  more  than  half  the  battle  in  the  successful  handling  of  these  people.  If 
to  these  qualities  be  added  sympathy,  their  love  will  be  gained,  and  almost 
anything  can  be  done  with  them. 

In  the  past — and  to  a  great  extent  the  practice  continues  at  the  present  day 
— agents  have  spent  most  of  their  time  in  their  offices,  giving  out  orders  for 
small  extra  supplies,  listening  to  unimportant  complaints,  and  generally  doing 
the  petty  work  that  a  clerk  should  perform.  This  is  the  least  important  part  of 
an  agent's  work.  His  place  is  really  out  of  doors,  in  the  field,  traveling  about 
continually  over  the  reservation,  seeing  with  his  own  eyes  what  his  Indians  are 
doing,  and  letting  them  know  that  he  is  watching  them.  He  should  know  that 
they  are  attending  to  their  farms  or  their  cattle,  and  keeping  up  their  fences  and 
their  houses.  He  must  look  after  the  irrigating  ditches  and  see  that  they  are 
working  properly  and  are  kept  in  repair,  that  the  school  work  is  going  on  as  it 
should,  and,  generally,  that  all  hands  on  the  reservation  are  doing  their  duty. 
The  realization  that  a  visit  from  the  agent  may  be  expected  at  any  time  will 
keep  Indians  and  whites  alike  up  to  their  work,  and  will  accomplish  wonders. 

This  is  not  intended  as  a  primer  for  Indian  agents,  but  it  is  an  effort  to  point 
out  some  of  the  reasons  why  Indian  progress  has  often  been  slow  when  it  might 
have  been  rapid,  and  also  to  suggest  how  laborious  is  the  life  of  an  agent  who 


;f' 


■ 


HIM 


of  failure 

y  in  which 
:rtain  that 
ent,  while 

c,  he  must 
he  worst — 
3  his  mind 
1  a  course, 
lie,  just  as 
)lds  to  his 

s  cause  to 
:t  promise, 
jthing  and 
lain  to  the 
in  that  he 
to  make  a 
r  a  change, 
dence,  and 
people.  If 
ind  almost 

resent  day 
orders  for 
rally  doing 
int  part  of 
ling  about 
ndians  are 
know  that 
fences  and 
at  they  are 
ig  on  as  it 
their  duty. 
ly  time  will 
onders. 
3rt  to  point 
en  it  might 
agent  who 


HIGH  BEAR 

STANDI  NC    RUCK    SIOUX 


!'i 


(        V 


r 


i-i 


.u. 


li 


THE  AGENTS  RULE 


I5» 


tries  intelligently  to  do  his  duty.  And,  after  all,  the  progress  of  any  tribe 
depends  almost  entirely  on  the  man  appointed  to  govern  it.  A  bad  agent,  one 
who  is  careless,  uninterested,  dishonest,  will  let  his  Indians  go  backward  instead 
of  forward,  for  there  can  be  no  standing  still.  A  good  agent  will  administer 
affairs  well,  will  stimulate  his  Indians  to  effort  and  direct  them  wisely,  and  will 
so  impress  himself  on  them  that  they  will  wish  to  advance  and  will  do  so.  He 
may  make  of  them  stock  raisers,  possessing  thousands  of  cattle  which  they  care 
for  as  intelligently  and  successfully  as  white  men  care  for  theirs,  with  a  stock 
association  for  general  protection  and  with  all  the  system  which  long  experience 
has  shown  to  be  desirable  in  the  cattle  business.  Or,  under  other  conditions,  he 
may  lead  them  to  undertake  mixed  farming,  to  raise  crops,  garden  and  stock. 
Or  he  may  develop  a  tribe  into  traders,  accumulators  of  property,  some  of  whom 
may  become  rich. 

The  good  work  that  can  be  done  by  the  right  kind  of  an  agent  is  hardly  to 
be  measured  in  words,  and  his  position  may  be  envied  by  any  man  who  is 
interested  in  the  progress  of  humanity. 

Looking  back  over  the  years,  one  sees  in  the  Indian  service  generally  a 
wonderful  change  for  the  better  ;  a  greater  interest  and  intelligence  displayed, 
and  a  stronger  effort  put  forth  for  good,  both  in  the  field  and  in  Washington. 
The  greater  the  improvement  in  the  work  done,  the  more  is  demanded.  The 
field  workers  in  the  Indian  service  are  no  more  perfect  than  the  rest  of  us,  but 
they  are  improving,  and  as  the  people  take  more  and  more  interest  in  the  work, 
they  will  continue  to  improve.  The  ultimate  responsibility  for  the  condition  of 
the  Indians  must  be  borne  by  each  one  of  us.  We  shall  be  just  as  well  served 
by  the  Indian  Bureau  as  we  ask  to  be. 


VH   n  ;V 

i 

1 

*                   1 

^'i 

■'  I 

i 

» 1 

1 

«H 


It  ¥ 


4 


CHAPTER  XI 


EDUCATION 


The  earliest  attempt  by  the  Kovernment  to  educate  the  Indians  is  found  in 
a  bill  passed  by  the  Continental  Congress  in  1775,  appropriating  $500  for  the 
education  of  Indian  youth,  and  in  1794  a  treaty  was  made  with  the  Oneida, 
TuHcarora  and  Stockbridge  Indians,  providing  for  certain  industrial  training 
for  young  men,  namely,  "  in  the  arts  of  the  miller  and  sawer."  In  a  treaty  of 
1803  it  was  promised  that  the  United  States  would  contribute  $100  per  year 
for  ten  years  toward  the  support  of  a  priest  among  the  Indians  "  to  instruct  as 
many  of  their  children  as  possible  in  the  rudiments  of  literature."  In  181Q  no 
less  than  $10,000  was  appropriated  for  the  purpose  of  instructing  Indians  in 
agriculture  and  to  teach  their  children  reading,  writing  and  arithmetic. 

In  the  eighty  years  that  have  elapsed  since  then,  it  does  not  seem  as  if  very 
much  had  been  accomplished,  and  of  what  may  have  been  done  until  within  the 
last  twenty-five  years  we  have  little  or  no  record. 

Intelligent  efforts  to  educate  the  Indian  children  were  not  set  on  foot  until 
1877.  The  present  policy  of  the  government  is  to  instruct  the  adult  Indian  in 
ways  of  civilization,  so  far  as  may  be  possible,  and  to  give  to  the  children,  now 
growing  up,  an  education  from  books  and  in  industrial  pursuits  which  shall 
enable  them,  when  they  reach  manhood  and  womanhood,  to  take  that  share  in 
the  struggle  for  existence  which  is  a  part  of  the  life  of  the  average  American 
citizen.  In  the  furtherance  of  this  policy,  of  the  sums  of  money  appropriated  by 
Congress  each  year,  a  part  goes  to  the  carrying  out  of  treaties  made  with 
different  tribes;  a  part  is  expended  in  pure  gratuities,  in  order  to  keep  the 
Indians  alive;  and  a  considerable  portion,  more  than  two  and  a  half  millions  of 
dollars,  is  for  educational  purposes. 

Since  the  government  first  adopted  on  a  large  scale  the  wise  policy  of 
preparing  the  youth  to  fight  the  battle  of  civilized  life,  the  growth  of  the  move- 
ment has  been  considerable.  Hon.  Henry  L.  Dawes,  in  a  recent  article  in  the 
Atlantic  Monthly,  takes  a  roseate  view  of  the  situation,  which  is  in  part  justified; 
but  there  is  distinctly  another  side  of  the  question,  as  I  shall  try  to  show  by 
figures  taken  from  the  last  report  of  the  Indian  Commissioner.  For  in  twenty- 
two  years  many  children  have  been  born  and  grown  to  manhood  and 
womanhood,  and  yet  so  small  a  part  of  the  work  of  providing  educational 
facilities  for  them  has  been  done  that  not  more  than  one-half  of  the  Indian 
children  who  are  now  of  school  age  have  an  opportunity  to  be  taught  in  the 
schools. 

'53 


■■■■■-•MlWiSi.'^- 


u 


i; 


i5-> 


THE   INDIANS  OF  TODAY 


■|l 


1 


•  '4    ' 


r 


:i  in 


I  I  i^ 


1 1 


)  I 


In  the  yciir  1877  there  i«  said  to  have  been  an  averaRc  atti-ndancc  at  the 
various  Indian  schools  of  about  j.Oou  pupils;  whiit-  accordin^^  to  Mr  Dawes' 
statement,  just  referred  to,  there  arc  now  14K  well-equipped  boardin^i  schools 
and  jc)<5  day  schools  en^a^cd  in  the  education  of  24,000  childrtn,  with  an  average 
attendance  of  i<>,67i.  I  do  not  undi^rstand  the  number  of  schools  to  be  so  many. 
In  iStjQ  there  were  2q6  schools  in  all. 

In  the  United  States,  exclusive  of  Alaska,  there  are  estimated  to  be 
262,065  Indians.  The  Five  Civilized  Tribes  and  New  York  Indians  hav(;  hitherto 
operated  their  own  schools,  and  need  not  be  considered,  leaving  iSo,62f)  whose 
education  is  to  be  looked  after  by  the  government;  in  other  words,  if  we  take 
the  average  school  attendance  for  iSgq,  which  is  20,522,  we  find  that  it  represents 
just  about  eleven  and  one-third  per  cent,  of  the  total  Indian  population. 
Just  what  proportion  the  chihircn  of  school  age— those  between  6  and  16 
or  6  and  iS  years  of  age,  for  the  age  limit  varies— bear  to  the  whole  number 
of  Indians  is  not  definitely  known;  but  obviously  it  must  be  more  than  ten 
per  cent,  or  eleven  per  cent,  of  the  total.  Persons  who  are  well  qualified  to 
make  the  estimate  regard  the  children  of  school  age  as  only  about  twenty  per 
cent,  of  the  whole  population.  Perhaps  it  is  nearer  twenty-five  per  cent.,  but 
this  is  little  more  than  a  guess.  It  is  said,  however,  that  statistics  from  the 
agencies  indicate  that  the  number  of  youth  between  the  ages  of  6  and  18  is  a 
trifle  less  than  one-fourth  of  the  population.  F'rom  these  children  of  school  age 
must  be  deducted,  of  course,  the  absent,  those  who  are  married,  and  that  other 
much  larger  number,  who  by  reason  of  ill  health  are  unable  to  attend  school. 
The  first  two  classes  are  very  small. 

On  the  whole,  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  conclude  that  at  a  fair  estimate,  not 
over  one-fifth  of  the  population  need  be  considered  as  eligible  for  schoohng.  If 
the  school  children  are  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the  population,  the  government 
educates  about  nine-twentieths  of  them.  If  they  are  twenty  per  cent,  of  the 
population,  the  proportion  is  a  little  over  one-half.   The  showing  is  not  a  good  one. 

No  class  of  persons  recognizes  the  inadequacy  of  the  present  efforts  to 
educate  the  Indians  so  fully  as  those  who  are  engaged  in  the  work.  The 
teachers  employed  by  the  Indian  Bureau  have  little  opportunity  to  make  them- 
selves heard  publicly  on  this  subject;  yet  one  has  only  to  read  over  the  annual 
reports  of  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  to  learn  what  the  feeling  is  among 
a  majority  of  the  Indian  Agents  and  school  teachers  who  report  to  him.  These 
employees  not  only  have  to  perform  work  which  at  best  is  hard,  but  they  have 
to  do  it  in  the  face  of  the  greatest  difficulties  and  discouragements  in  the  way  of 
equipment,  and  in  unsuitable  and  tumble-down  buildings,  which  are  often 
unhealthy,  leaky,  cold.  Or,  because  of  lack  of  room,  they  have  to  turn  away 
children  who  desire  schooling.    Nothing  is  more  frequent  in  their  reports  than 


EDUCATION 


•5S 


this  bitter  complaint  of  inadequate  scliooi  accommo<iatiun  on  the  several 
reservations,  of  biiildinKH  out  of  n'|)air  and  of  defective  sanitary  arrangements. 
Urgent  requests  are  continually  made  that  money  may  be  provided  for  repairs, 
for  additional  buildings  and  for  a  larger  force  of  instructors.  On  some 
reservations  there  are  no  schools  whatever;  on  some  others  the  schools,  poor 
and  unsatisfactory  as  they  often  are,  are  not  large  enough  to  accommodate  one 
fjuarter  of  the  children  who  ought  to  receive  instruction. 

What  prospect  or  hope  is  there  of  civilizing  these  children  and  making 
them  self-supporting  and  a  part  of  the  nation,  unless  they  are  taught  to  speak 
the  English  language,  so  that  they  may  communicate  with  their  white  neighbors 
and  may  thus  become  actually  incorporated  in  tht  imerican  people,  instead  of 
being  cutoff  and  regarded  as  an  alien  race?  To  the  Indian  child  mere  book 
learning  is  not  in  itself  of  great  importance,  but  there  is  nothing  else  that  he 
can  be  taught  so  useful  to  him  as  a  knowledge  of  the  English  language. 

It  may  be  accepted  as  a  general  proposition  that  all  children  need  to  be 
educated.  Children  of  savages,  who  receive  by  inheritance  no  knowledge  that 
will  be  of  much  use  to  them  in  civilization,  need  education  most  of  all. 

The  savage  child  knows  nothing  of  the  actions  and  processes  required  in 
civilized  life,  he  cannot  even  speak  our  tongue.  Yet  his  life  must  be  spent 
among  English  speaking  people,  with  whom — if  he  is  to  earn  his  living — he  must 
communicate  in  order  to  transact  his  simple  affa'rs,  which  will  call  for  some 
knowledge  of  reading,  writing  and  arithmetic  ;  he  must  support  himself  by  the 
work  of  his  hands,  and  in  a  majority  of  cases  by  industries  such  as  agriculture  or 
stock  raising.  What  then  should  the  child  be  taught?  What  will  help  him  to 
grasp  most  easily  and  quickly  the  essential  facts  and  methods  of  this  new  life — 
so  different  from  that  of  his  ancestors — in  order  that  he  may  at  once  begin  to 
use  his  intelligence  to  protect  himself  in  the  affairs  of  that  life? 

There  is  nothing  more  important  for  the  Indian  child  than  association  with 
white  people,  whether  in  school  or  out,  for  only  by  such  association  can  he  learn 
to  use  his  naturally  intelligent  mind  as  the  white  man  uses  his,  and  be  taught  to 
reason  as  a  white  man  reasons.  Until  the  Indian  can  make  such  use  of  his  mind 
he  will  never  be  able  to  compete  with  those  whose  intelligences  have  been 
trained  in  civilized  ways,  but  must  still  fall  behind  in  the  race  and  be  and  remain 
a  pauper. 

The  first  thing  for  him  to  learn  is  to  speak  English.  After  he  has  learned 
this  the  very  simplest  branches  of  book  learning  are  enough.  He  must  be 
taught  to  read,  to  write  and  to  cipher  so  that  he  can  carry  on  the  simple  business 
operations  that  he  may  be  called  on  to  perform  in  after  life.  It  is  desirable  that 
the  brightest  among  the  Indian  children,  or  those  who  manifest  a  special  bent 
toward  some  civilized  pursuit,  should  be  sent  to  certain  advanced  schools,  but  in 


i 


MM 


1   ' 

1  1 

■1 

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i 

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1 

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III 


156 


THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


many  cases  the  attempt  to  educate  the  Indian  beyond  a  certain  point  tends  to 
injure  rather  than  to  help  him. 

What  the  Indian  requires  is  instruction  in  the  practical  affairs  of  liie,  some 
knowledge  about  the  things  that  he  himself  must  of  necessity  do  in  the  future  in 
order  to  earn  a  living  for  himself.  In  other  words  the  instruction  which  he 
receives  in  industrial  work  should  be  of  such  a  character  that  it  will  be  useful  to 
him  in  his  home  life.  To  teach  a  boy  who  is  to  inhabit  a  western  reservation, 
where  cattle  raising  is  the  only  industry  and  population  is  sparse,  a  trade  such  as 
typesetting,  or  shoemaking,  or  tinsmithing,  or  tailoring,  is  to  equip  him  with  a 
calling  which  he  can  never  practice  in  his  home,  and  which  is  likely  to  be  a 
source  of  regret  to  him  through  his  whole  life,  for  he  will  always  feel  that  if  the 
years  lost  in  learning  that  trade  had  been  devoted  to  the  study  of  some  more 
useful  pursuit,  his  life  might  have  been  a  very  different  one. 

A  most  important  part  of  the  schooling  of  these  children  should  be  to  assist 
them  by  the  simplest  explanations  and  examples  to  acquire  some  clear  notion  of 
the  white  men's  ways  of  thinking  and  doing  business,  and  of  the  way  in  which 
this  country  is  governed.  The  reservation  Indian  regards  his  agent  as  the  chief, 
but  he  knows  also  that  in  Washington  there  is  a  bigger  chief,  vaguely  known  as 
the  Great  Father.  This  great  father,  whom,  of  course,  he  thinks  of  as  an  indi- 
vidual, is  to  his  mind  the  ruler  over  us  all,  white  men  and  Indians  alike,  and  his 
power  is  such  that  he  can  do  with  us  whatever  he  pleases.  The  Indian's  mind  is 
accustomed  to  deal  with  things  in  the  concrete  and  so  he  thinks  of  the  source  of 
all  power  as  residing  in  the  individual,  and  does  not  appreciate  that  above  the 
Individual  there  is  a  higher  power — that  abstraction  which  we  call  law.  Such 
matters  as  these  he  should  be  told  of,  and  an  effort  should  be  made  to  lead  him 
to  comprehend  the  simpler  processes  of  our  government,  how  the  orders  and 
regulations  which  he  obeys  originate,  and  how  they  reach  him.  Talks  such  as 
this,  given  to  the  Indian  children,  or  to  adults  would  profit  them  greatly,  if 
phrased  in  language  that  the  Indian  could  understand,  and  illustrated  and 
enforced  by  examples  drawn  from  facts  of  his  everyday  life. 

The  tendency  in  recent  years  has  been  to  give  the  Indian  children  elaborate 
educations  and  to  educate  only  a  small  portion  of  them.  If  twice  as  many  could 
be  taught  English  and  the  simplest  branches  of  learning — the  boys  the  care  of 
stock  and  the  use  of  the  tools  required  about  a  ranch,  the  girls  how  co  cook,  how 
to  keep  the  house  clean,  and  to  make  simple  clothing  economically — the  progress 
of  the  race  would  be  very  much  more  rapid,  and  very  much  more  to  the  purpose 
than  it  is  now.  The  school  farm  system  of  the  present  reservation  boarding 
school  is  education  wholly  in  the  right  direction  and  these  farms  are  perhaps 
the  most  useful  features  of  the  schools,  but  there  should  be  many  :nore  of  them. 

It  is  gratifying  to  note  that  the  Indian   Office  appreciates  now  as  never 


It  tends  to 

liie,  some 
!  future  in 
which  he 
i  useful  to 
servation, 
de  such  as 
im  with  a 
ily  to  be  a 
that  if  the 
omc  more 

le  to  assist 
'  notion  of 
y  in  which 
the  chief, 
known  as 
as  an  indi- 
:e,  and  his 
I's  mind  is 
;  source  of 
above  the 
aw.  Such 
)  lead  him 
rders  and 
ks  such  as 
greatly,  if 
rated  and 

elaborate 
any  could 
he  care  of 
cook,  how 
;i  progress 
e  purpose 

boarding 
e  perhaps 
!  of  them. 

as  never 


SWlir   IKH". 

STANDINc;    KOLK    SIOUX 


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s  S'l'  It 


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il' 


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If 

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ii 


i  'ill 


EDUCATION 


157 


before  the  importance  to  the  Indian  youth  of  education,  and  that  it  strives  to 
make  the  best  use  possible  of  the  funds  which  Congress  appropriates  for  this 
purpose. 

In  I Sqq,  as  already  stated,  the  number  of  Indian  children  attending  school 
was  20,522.  Their  distribution,  as  given  by  the  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of 
Indian  Affairs,  is  shown  by  the  following  table,  which  gives  the  enrollment  and 
average  attendance  at  Indian  schools,  1898  and  1899,  showing  the  increase  in 
1899  ;  also  the  number  of  schools  in  1899  : 


Kind  or  School. 

Enrollment. 

Average  Attendance. 

Number 

of 
Schools. 

1898. 

1899. 

Increase. 

1898. 

1899. 

Increase. 

Government  schools: 

Non-reservation  boaruing 

Reservation  boarding 

Day 

6,175 
8,877 
4.847 

6,880 
8,881 
4,95' 

70s 

4 

104 

5.347 
7,532 
3  286 

16,165 

6,004 
7.433 
3,»8' 

657 

99 

5 

25 

76 

142 

Total 

19.899 

20,712 

813 

16,718 

553 

243 

Contract  schools: 

Boarding 

»,S09 
96 

394 

2,468 
42 

393 

41 
54 

I 

2,245 

68 
326 

2,159 
29 

335 

86 
39 

9 

28 

Day 

Boarding,  especially    ap- 
propriated for 

Total 

».999 

2,903 

96 

2,639 

2,523 

116 

32 

Public 

315 

326 

II 

'83 

167 

16 

Mission  boarding 

897 

1,079 

182 

783 

960 

'77 

18 

Mission  day 

215 

182 

33 

'45 

'54 

9 

3 

Agerreeate 

24,325 

25-202 

»77 

'9,9'S 

20,522 

607 

296 

The  reservation  boarding  school  is  the  most  important  educational  agency 
at  work  for  the  Indians,  for  it  has  the  advantage  of  training  the  children  on  the 
very  ground  where  they  are  to  spend  their  lives.  Each  school  has  its  farm,  at 
which  the  boys  are  taught  something  of  agriculture,  or  farming,  or  irrigation,  or 
all  three,  and  the  farm  attached  to  each  is  almost  of  necessity  conducted  in  the 
way  best  adapted  to  the  climatic  conditions  of  the  region.  At  these  schools  the 
majority  of  the  children  now  receive  their  training ;  they  afford  the  needed 
instruction  in  English,  the  knowledge  from  books,  and  in  most  cases  the 
industrial  education,  which  is  likely  to  be  of  greatest  value. 

After  the  reservation  boarding  schools  come  those  off  the  reservation,  called 
non-reservation  schools,  which  furnish  a  higher  education  from  books  and  in 
industrial  pursuits,  and  sometimes  fit  the  pupil  to  go  out  into  a  world  wider  than 


I  i 


. 


f 


tei : 


1(3 


I 


W 


!J 


■58 


THE  INDIANS  OF  TO-UAY 


that  of  the  reservation,  there  to  try  his  fortune.  Yet,  as  most  of  the  pupils  return 
to  the  tribe  and  expect  to  spend  their  lives  on  the  reservation,  much  that  they 
are  taught  at  the  non-reservation  schools  is  at  present  of  practical  value  only  so 
far  as  it  tends  to  raise  the  standard  of  culture  in  the  tribe.  The  implanting  in 
the  boy's  mind  of  a  knowledge  that  the  hands  may  be  used  in  a  variety  of  ways, 
the  training  in  manual  dexterity  and  the  stimulating  of  the  pupil's  mechanical 
ingenuity  have  their  value  as  training.  If  there  is  any  prospect  that  he  will  have 
occasion  to  use  them  to  earn  a  livelihood,  they  have  the  highest  possible  value. 

On  the  whole,  those  non-reservation  schools  which  are  situated  in  or  near 
the  country  in  which  the  scholars  have  been  born  and  reared  are  to  be  recom- 
mended over  those  in  the  distant  east,  because  parents  are  less  unwilling  to  let 
their  children  leave  them  to  go  the  shorter  distances,  and  because  the  change 
from  the  dry  climate  to  the  humid  east  is  likely  to  affect  health  unfavorably. 
The  Indian  Bureau  has  gathered  statistics  showing  that  "eighty-nine  per  cent,  of 
those  pupils  who  have  gone  through  the  schools  and  returned  to  their  homes  are 
reported  to  be  in  good  physical  condition."  This  refers  to  all  schools,  and  so 
scarcely  touches  this  particular  point. 

It  is  certain  that  children  taken  east  from  the  reservations  are  often  returned 
within  a  year  on  account  of  permanent  ill-health.  It  would  seem  to  be  wise, 
therefore,  to  draw  upon  the  reservations  east  of  the  Mississippi  for  children  to  be 
sent  to  eastern  schools,  while  those  west  of  that  stream  should  be  sent  to  non- 
reservation  boarding  schools  situated  in  a  climate  as  nearly  as  possible  like  that 
tc  which  they  have  been  accustomed.  The  western  schools  should  strive  harder 
than  they  have  ever  done  to  equal  in  discipline  and  general  efficiency  the  schools 
at  Hampton  and  Carlisle,  which  have  set  standards  so  well  worthy  of  emulation. 

The  day  school  performs  a  most  useful  part  in  the  work,  though  as  yet  it 
has  only  begun  to  be  a  factor  in  the  Indian's  education.  In  time,  however,  it 
must  become  the  main  dependence  of  the  race  for  its  learning,  just  as  our 
common  schools  are  for  the  whites.  These  day  schools,  though  numbering  less 
than  150,  are  increasing  each  year,  and  promise  to  do  constantly  better  work. 
Here  the  children  are  taught  to  speak  Knglish,  and  to  read,  write  and  cipher, 
with  some  simple  planting  and  harvesting  and  the  use  of  garden  tools;  the  girls 
help  to  prepare  the  mid-day  meal  and  thus  learn  something  about  cooking  and 
serving  food.  Sometimes  they  learn  a  little  sewing.  But  the  day  schools  are  far 
too  few  and  accommodate  a  small  part  of  the  children  to  be  taught.  Moreover, 
as  the  Indians  now  no  longer  live  in  close  groups,  but  are  scattered  out  on 
ranches  and  farms,  separated  by  considerable  distances,  many  children  live  too 
far  from  the  schools  to  attend  them.  This  will  in  time  be  remedied  by  giving  to 
each  camp  or  settlement  a  day  school  which  shall  be  within  reach  of  most  of  the 
children. 


WA 


EDUCATION 


«59 


In  i8qo  the  plan  was  devised  of  inducing  the  white  district  schools  which 
were  accessible  to  receive  Indian  children  by  paying  for  each  pupil  the  sum  of 
$io  per  quarter.  This  method  of  securin^f  instruction  for  them  has  not  been  so 
successful  as  contemplated  nor  as  it  should  have  been.  It  is  one  of  the  most 
useful  and  practical  educational  projects  undertaken  for  the  Indian.  Nothing 
can  benefit  the  Indian  child  more  than  association  with  white  companions  of 
his  own  age.  It  enables  him  at  the  most  receptive  stage  to  acquire  civilized 
notions,  which  he  will  absorb  far  more  readily  from  children  than  from  grown 
people.  It  is  only  in  a  few  places  that  this  plan  can  be  tried,  because  on  only  a 
few  reservations  are  the  district  schools  accessible.  Nevertheless  there  are 
fourteen  schools  in  Nebraska,  nine  in  Oklahoma,  three  in  California,  two  each 
in  Michigan  and  Idaho,  and  one  each  in  Wisconsin,  Utah,  Montana,  Washing- 
ton, Oregon  and  Nevada,  where  359  Indian  children  are  received. 

As  shown  by  the  table,  the  contract  schools  in  iSgg  cared  for  more  than  2,500 
pupils,  almost  all  of  whom  were  at  the  boarding  schools.  Of  $172,462  paid  to 
these  schools  in  i8q9,  $116,862  went  to  the  Roman  Catholic  missions  to  pay  for 
the  instruction  and  board  of  1,1 19  pupils.  This  number  does  not  by  any  means 
represent  all  the  work  done  by  these  missions,  for  in  many  cases  the  number  of 
pupils  received  is  not  greatly  reduced  from  what  it  was  when  the  schools  were 
paid  twice  or  three  times  as  much,  the  expenses  formerly  met  by  the  govern- 
ment being  paid  now  by  private  contributions  from  members  of  the  church.  In 
one  case  where  a  mission  is  paid  for  twenty-four  pupils  it  receives  ninety-two;  in 
another,  where  thirty-four  are  paid  for  seventy-two  are  taken.  It  is  thus  seen 
that  those  in  charge  of  this  work  continue  to  keep  it  up  even  though  government 
aid  is  withdrawn,  and  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  Congress  has  reduced  the  number 
of  children  to  be  paid  for  at  a  time  when  there  are  so  many  requiring  education 
for  whom  the  government  provides  no  accommodation.  In  addition,  over 
1,100  pupils  are  cared  for  in  mission  schools,  mostly  Protestant,  which  have 
no  contracts  and  receive  no  help  from  the  government,  except  such  rations  and 
clothing  as  the  pupils  would  have  received  in  their  homes. 

Years  ago  we  often  heard,  from  people  who  could  see  no  good  in  the  Indian, 
that  it  was  useless  to  try  to  educate  the  children.  These  pessimists  said  that 
you  might  take  a  boy  or  girl  away  from  the  tribe,  might  remove  the  child 
entirely  from  Indian  influences,  have  it  associate  only  with  educated  white 
people,  teach  it  civilized  ways,  manners  and  book  learning,  and  then,  after  the 
education  seemed  complete,  when  the  young  man  or  woman  was  sent  back  to  the 
tribe,  there  was  an  immediate  relapse  into  barbarism.  It  took  only  a  week,  so 
they  said,  for  the  educated  young  Indian  to  resume  all  the  ways  of  the  most 
degraded  person  in  the  camp.  These  statements  were  used  to  support  the  argu- 
ment  that   in   his  nature  the   Indian   was  radically  wild,  and  that  education 


:i 


i  i. 


1 


( 


m 


■  f 
1  i 


w 


i::i 


160 


THE  INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


would  never  overcome  this  natural  wildness.  A  man  once  said  to  me,  "  An 
Indian  baby  is  like  a  young  partridge;  you  may  hatch  it  under  a  hen,  and  keep 
it  in  the  chicken  yard  with  the  other  fowls,  but  you  can  never  tame  it;  as  soon 
as  it  gets  out.  or  is  big  enough  to  fly,  it  will  go  off  and  you  will  never  see  it 
again." 

It  is  true  that  in  old  times,  when  but  few  children  were  sent  away  to  be 
educated  off  the  reservation,  and  when  the  educated  young  man  or  woman 
was  the  rare  e.Kception  in  the  tribe,  there  were  many  lapses  of  this  sort.  For 
each  one  of  these  there  was  a  reason,  which  is  perfectly  intelligible  to  any  one 
familiar  with  Indian  nature.  The  returned  students  who  relapsed  into  bar- 
barism did  not  do  so  from  any  natural  wildness  or  inherent  depravity,  but 
because  they  were  forced  to  it  by  influences  which  neither  they  nor  any  other 
young  person  would  be  able  to  resist. 

Those  were  the  early  days  of  Indian  education.  The  tribes  were  still  wild. 
The  old  and  the  middle-aged  did  not  realize  the  great  change  in  their  condition 
which  was  so  soon  to  take  place.  With  characteristic  conservatism,  they  held 
fast  to  the  old  things.  They  did  not  wish  to  change  their  ways  of  life;  they  saw 
no  reason  v;hy  they  should.  When,  therefore,  the  returned  student  appeared 
among  them,  dressed  in  civilized  clothing,  with  manners  different  from  those 
of  the  camp,  a  little  careful,  perhaps,  about  his  dress,  washing  his  hands  more 
frequently  than  others,  he  became  at  once  a  marked  individual,  and  the  people 
of  his  tribe,  because  his  ways  were  in  some  degree  different  from  theirs,  began 
to  make  fun  of  him.  They  would  say,  "Ah,  here  comes  the  white  man.  Do 
not  stand  in  the  white  man's  way.  Give  the  white  man  the  best  seat;  he  is 
different  from  the  rest  of  us  now;  he  has  been  to  school  and  has  learned  to  be 
smart;  he  is  no  longer  a  poor  Indian."  Any  one  who  has  had  much  association 
with  Indians  knows  how  sensitive  the  young  people  are  to  ridicule.  And  when 
a  boy,  returned  from  school,  at  once  found  himself  a  butt,  at  which  the  wit  of 
the  whole  tribe  was  directed,  his  sufferings  were  intolerable,  and  his  only 
desire  was  to  escape  from  the  jeering,  the  mockery  and  the  ridicule  which  met 
him  on  every  side.  It  must  be  remembered,  too,  that  this  ridicule  came  from 
the  oldest  people,  those  whom  he  had  always  been  trained  to  hold  in  greatest 
respect.  If  it  had  been  only  his  equals  or  the  children,  who  mocked  him,  he 
might  have  endured  it;  but  it  came,  as  well,  from  his  parents,  his  uncles,  his 
grandparents — from  the  wisest  and  oldest  men  and  women  of  the  tribe.  An 
Indian  can  endure  tortures,  if  he  must,  but  he  cannot  stand  ridicule,  and  it  is  not 
strange  that  the  greatest  desire  of  the  returned  student  was  to  make  himself  as 
inconspicuous  as  possible.  This  he  could  do  only  by  dressing  as  his  fellows 
dressed  and  living  in  all  respects  as  they  lived. 

The  sufferings  of  the  girl  who  returned  to  the  camp  from  school  were  like 


me,  "  An 
ind  keep 
;  as  soon 
rer  see  it 

vay  to  be 
r  woman 
ort.  For 
)  any  one 
into  bar- 
ivity,  but 
any  other 

still  wild, 
condition 
they  held 
;  they  saw 
appeared 
rom  those 
inds  more 
;he  people 
:irs,  began 
man.     Do 
seat;  he  is 
•ned  to  be 
issociation 
And  when 
the  wit  of 
his   only 
which  met 
:anie  from 
n  greatest 
d  him,  he 
uncles,  his 
tribe.    An 
id  it  is  not 
himself  as 
his  fellows 


were 


like 


Cim  I'  (IRWT  KICllARnS 

TONKAWA 


n 

1 

i    1 

1 

1  ' 

1"- 1  i 

1 

1. 

> 


f  *l 


EDUCATION 


i6i 


those  of  the  boy,  except  that  she  had  a  harder  time,  with  perhaps  less  obstinacy 
and  powers  of  resistance.  The  tongues  of  the  girls  and  women  are  sharper 
than  those  of  the  men,  their  wit  more  keen  ar»d  cutting;  and  often  a  day  or  two 
of  this  bitter  raillery  led  the  girl  to  throw  aside  her  civilized  clothing,  and  to 
appear  in  the  woman's  dress  and  blanket  worn  by  her  companions. 

The  conditions  of  those  old  times  do  not  exist  to-day.  A  vast  change  has 
come  over  the  people  of  the  camp.  Insensibly,  and  all  unknown  to  himself,  even 
the  most  conservative  of  the  old  Indians  has  changed,  and  to-day  views  things 
from  a  point  wholly  tlifferent  from  that  of  twenty-five  years  ago.  To-day,  prac- 
tically all  appreciate  the  benetit  of  education,  and  desire  to  have  their  children 
taught. 

The  growth  of  Indian  education  is  like  the  growth  of  any  organic  thing. 
Watching  the  sapling  from  day  to  day,  it  does  not  seem  to  us  to  change;  yet,  if 
we  go  away  and  return  after  the  lapse  of  ten  years,  we  find  that  the  sapling 
has  become  a  tree.  So  with  the  education  of  any  tribe  of  Indians;  from  day  to 
day  the  work  is  hard  and  discouraging,  and  no  progress  seems  to  be  made,  but 
if  we  look  back  five,  or  ten,  or  twenty  years,  and  compare  the  conditions  of 
to-day  with  those  of  the  past,  we  may  find  satisfaction  and  encouragement  to 
continued  effort  in  the  vast  improvement  which  has  taken  place. 

There  are  persons  who  believe  that,  in  view  of  the  treatment  of  the  Indians 
by  the  United  States  government,  as  shown  by  the  history  of  the  past  hundred 
years,  it  is  that  government's  duty  now  to  do  everything  in  its  power  to  elevate 
and  improve  this  race;  but  setting  aside  all  question  of  duty,  it  would  seem  that 
from  the  point  of  view  of  the  most  sordid  economist — of  the  practical  man  who, 
in  considering  a  subject,  says  to  himself  only,  "Will  it  pay" — it  would  be  a 
good  business  operation  to  appropriate  each  year  for  the  instruction  of  the 
Indian  youth  at  least  twice  the  sum  now  granted.  This  would  be  an  investment 
from  which,  for  a  few  years,  no  return  could  be  expected,  but  at  the  end  of  that 
time  the  money,  or  most  of  it,  would  in  effect  be  returned  to  the  Treasury  in 
money  saved,  because  the  appropriations  for  the  support  of  the  Indians  would 
thus  at  first  be  reduced  and  finally  would  cease  altogether.  The  Indian  questio.T 
would  no  longer  be  one  to  be  wrangled  over,  and  the  Indians  as  a  trouble  and 
an  annoyance  would  cease  to  exist. 

Granting  that  the  main  object  in  educating  the  Indian  children  is  to  render 
the  race  self-supporting,  an  aim  quite  as  important  as  this,  indeed  included  in  it, 
is  to  make  the  Indians  less  unlike  us  than  they  are.  They  exist  as  an  element  of 
our  population,  they  are  Americans,  and  they  should  be  put  in  a  position  to 
develop  into  a  constituent  part  of  our  new  race,  just  as  the  immigrants  from  a 
dozen  foreign  lands  have  developed  and  are  developing  into  good  and  useful 
citizens  of  the  United  States.    Such  development  cannot  be  accomplished  by 


. 


;  1. 


■  63 


THE   INDIANS  OF  TODAY 


employing  thr  half-way  measures  of  the*  present  day,  and  a  continuance  of  such 
half-way  measures  must  greatly  retard  the  desired  transformation  from  wards 
supported  by  the  government  into  a  producing  part  of  our  population,  whose 
lives  and  labors  will  add  something  positive  to  the  material  wealth  of  the 
country. 

We  ought  to  strive  to  make  them  as  soon  as  possible  farmers  where  they 
can  farm,  and  cattlemen  where  they  can  raise  stock,  as  children  instructing  them 
in  the  pursuits  which  they  must  follow  as  men.  With  doubled  facilities  for  this 
instruction,  the  number  of  Indians  successfully  engaging  in  these  pursuits  would 
be  doubled.  Already  there  are  some  tribes  which  possess,  and  profitably  care  for, 
many  thousands  of  cattle.  There  are  others  which  raise  large  crops  of  grain  and 
there  are  others  still  which  might  do  both,  but  do  neither.  These  last  cannot  be 
permitted  to  starve,  and  must  be  supported.  There  could  be  no  better  economy 
than  to  put  all  the  tribes  into  positions  to  practice  such  industries  intelligently, 
for  in  a  few  years  they  would  be  earning  their  livelihood  anil  this  would  greatly 
reduce  the  annual  appropriations  for  their  maintenance  and  would  render  pro- 
ductive the  reservations  which  they  inhabit,  and  which  now  too  often  yield 
nothing.  And  these  reservations  in  the  aggregate  make  up  a  vast  area  in  our 
western  country. 


f  ( 


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in 


CHAPTER  XII 


SOME  DIFFICULTIES 


In  the  precrdinfj  pa^'-s  I  have  cndeavortMi  to  consider  some  of  the 
difficulties  mrt  with  by  thi-  Indian  in  his  transition  from  the  savage  life  of 
f)rt:-Cohimbian  times  toward  the  civilization  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The 
troubles  brought  upon  the  race  by  the  chant(ed  condition  of  its  surroundings  are 
many  and  Kceat,  and  most  of  them  have  only  been  alluded  to.  Three  of  the 
most  important,  which  are  staring  him  in  the  face  to-day,  and  must  lon^  confront 
him,  have  to  do  with  the  health  of  the  race,  with  the  chanye  from  the  communal 
ownership  of  reservations  to  the  possession  of  land  in  severalty,  and,  most 
important  of  all,  with  the  obtaining  of  work,  that  is  to  say,  with  the  methods 
by  which  the  individual  Indian  shall  earn  his  subsistence. 


HEALTH 

In  the  old  days  when  the  Indians  roamed  free,  they  appeared  to  those  who 
met  them  a  sin^^ularly  healthy  race.  Coughs  and  colds  were  common,  to  be 
sure,  antl  there  were  occasional  cases  of  consumption.  Doubtless  there  was 
more  or  less  suffering  from  rheumatism.  Sore  eyes  caused  by  dust,  smoke, 
and  oftenest  of  all  by  over-strain,  were  not  infrequently  seen,  and  these  were 
apt  to  be  very  troublesome  from  lack  of  cleanliness.  The  afflicted  Indian 
usually  kept  a  wet  rag  over  his  eyes,  and  this  rag  was  never  changed  nor  washed. 
Acute  digestive  troubles  resulting  from  over-indulgence  in  eating  were  common 
among  the  children ;  while  adults  crippled  by  accident  or  by  injuries  received  in 
war  were  seen  very  often. 

It  is  true  that  in  those  old  days  one  lived  among  the  people  without  giving 
any  special  heed  to  such  matters  as  their  condition  of  health,  and  that  only 
those  cases  of  sickness  were  noticed  which  forced  themselves  on  the  attention  of 
the  dweller  in  the  camp.  Yet  often  one  heard  the  drumming  of  the  doctor  who 
was  working  over  a  sick  child,  and  not  infrequently  the  wailing  cries  of  women 
resounded  from  the  hills  near  the  village  as  they  uttered  their  plaintive 
mourning  for  those  who  were  gone.  To-day  things  wear  a  different  aspect. 
While  the  older  people  usually  seem  in  fair  health,  many  of  the  children  are 
hollow  eyed  and  feeble,  evidently  victims  of  dis  :ase  ;  others  have  rags  tied 
about  their  necks  or  show  healed  scars ,  where  scrofulous  sores  have  been. 
The  proportion  of  these  sickly  children  va  ies  in  the  different  tribes  ;  in  some  it 
is  small,  in  others  quite  considerable., 

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164 


THE  INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


We  have  been  told  in  recent  years  that  the  Indians  are  as  numerous  on  this 
continent  as  ever  they  were,  and  even  that  they  are  increasing  in  numbers,  and 
yet  in  many  cases  persons  who  have  occasion  to  associate  with  Indians  have 
noted  that  those  whom  they  meet  with  are  failing  in  health  and  growing  fewer 
in  numbers.  A  very  large  proportion  of  the  northern  Indians  apparently  have, 
and  perhaps  always  have  had,  catarrh,  and  seem  to  show  a  predisposition  to 
diseases  of  the  throat  and  lungs.  The  plains  Indians  and  those  of  the  Pacific 
coast  suffer  severely  from  consumption  and  it  is  probable  that  nearly  or  quite 
one-half  of  the  deaths  among  them  are  from  this  disease.  Some  physicians  in 
the  Indian  service  declare  that  Indians  rarely  die  of  any  other  <   sease. 

Tuberculosis  shows  itself  in  another  form,  which  is  commonly  called 
scrofula,  and  which  makes  itself  evident  in  swellings  of  the  lymphatic  glands — 
usually  of  the  neck  and  axilla — which  ultimately  open  and  become  running 
sores.  In  some  cases,  this  so-called  scrofula  may  be  due  to  a  blood  taint  derived 
from  intercourse  with  the  whites,  but  in  others  this  is  not  the  case. 

The  tendency  to  tuberculosis  no  doubt  arises  very  largely  from  their  present 
mode  of  life,  which  is  especially  favorable  to  the  spread  of  this  disease. 
Probably  there  has  always  been  among  them  more  or  less  consumption,  due  to 
exposure,  but  present  conditions  greatly  favor  the  increase  of  the  disease.  The 
houses  are  small  and  ill  ventilated,  the  household  and  visitors  gather  in  numbers 
in  a  single  room  and  deposit  their  sputa  on  the  floor.  From  sweeping,  from 
dancing,  and  even  from  the  tread  of  people  walking,  dust  is  constantly  rising 
from  the  floors  and  carries  with  it  the  tubercle  germs  which  find  lodgment  in 
the  air  passages  of  the  inmates  and  visitors. 

The  contagious  diseases  imported  by  the  whites  are  very  fatal  to  the 
Indians.  They  seem  to  have  slight  powers  of  resistance  to  smallpox,  scarlet 
fever,  measles  and  influenza  or  grippe.  Accounts  are  familiar  enough  of  the 
ravages  which  these  diseases  have  at  various  times  caused  among  different 
tribes.  As  recently  as  the  winter  of  1898-99,  no  less  than  250  out  of  the  i,6oo 
Zuni,  it  is  said,  perished  from  smallpox,  It  seems  quite  possible  that  Indians 
suffer  more  from  these  troubles  because  they  are  quite  new  to  them.  It  is 
conceivable  that  the  white  race,  having  battled  with  these  diseases  for  many 
centuries,  has  become  to  some  degree  tolerant  of  them  and — to  a  limited  extent 
at  least — immune  ;  while  the  system  of  the  Indian,  not  having  experienced  them 
until  within  recent  years,  and  not  having  had  the  time  t~t  become  in  any  degree 
accustomed  to  them,  is  extremely  susceptible  to  the  poison  and  readily  yields 
to  it. 

It  is  perhaps  not  too  much  to  conjecture  that  in  old  times  the  Indians  had 
few  contagious  diseases.  Then  they  were  a  selected  race  and  had  good  powers 
of  resistance  to  the  usual  complaints  to  which  they  were  subject,  though  indeed 


ans  had 
powers 
indeed 


JOHN  WILLIAMS 

TONKAWA 


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SOME  DIFFICULTIES 


165 


the  ministrations  of  the  medicine  man  or  doctor  killed  a  good  many.  Presum- 
ably, however,  they  were  subject  to  epidemics  of  fever  which  may  at  times 
have  been  of  such  severity  as  to  depopulate  certain  regions.  One  of  these  is 
mentioned  in  history  as  having  taken  place,  according  to  Indian  statements,  in 
eastern  Massachusetts  shortly  before  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims — 1617.  There 
may  be  other  such  traditions.  Mr.  Mooney  suggests  that  certain  myths  may 
contain  veiled  references  to  such  epidemics.  It  is  possible  that  they  suffered 
from  yellow  fever,  which  probably  existed  in  Mexico  before  the  coming  of 
Cortez.  Little,  however,  is  known  about  the  health  condition  of  Indians  in  pre- 
Columbian  times. 

In  looking  for  some  of  the  causes  for  this  apparent  change  in  health  we 
have  not  far  to  seek,  for  these  obviously  have  to  do  with  the  changed  conditions 
under  which  the  Indians  live.  Formerly  they  were  free  wanderers,  gaining  a 
subsistence  by  hard  work,  tramping  at  will  here  and  there  over  the  prairie, 
occupied  in  hunting,  in  moving  their  camps,  in  going  to  war  and  leading  lives 
that  were  full  of  interest  and  excitement.  They  dwelt  in  tents  which  were  well 
ventilated,  and  were  often  moved  to  fresh  ground  ;  they  subsisted  on  a  simple 
but  abundant  diet,  chiefly  of  fresh  meat  varied  with  natural  fruits  to  which  they 
were  accustomed.  The  tribal  blood  was  constantly  freshened  by  new  currents  ; 
most  of  them  were  measurably  free  from  disease  communicated  by  the  whites. 

To-day  things  are  very  different.  They  are  confined  to  one  spot  which 
they  cannot  leave ;  they  lead  sedentary  lives  ;  they  occupy  cabins  that  are  ill 
ventilated  and  dirty,  for  they  have  no  knowledge  of  how  they  ought  to  live  in 
houses  ;  their  minds  are  unoccupied  or  at  least  uninterested  ;  they  subsist  in  part 
on  salt  meat  and  flour  which  they  do  not  understand  how  to  prepare.  They  are 
cut  off  from  other  tribes  and  so  must  intermarry  to  a  great  extent,  the  necessities 
of  the  case  breaking  down  the  old  and  almost  universal  law  against  marriage 
within  the  gens.  Most  tribes — though  not  all — are  decimated  by  the  strange 
diseases  of  the  white,  tainted  with  a  virus  which  must  descend  to  the  children, 
and  often  enfeebled  by  indulgence  in  whisky  sold  them  by  the  whites. 

The  last  enumeration  of  the  Indians  of  the  United  States,  not  including 
Alaska,  gives  their  number  as  267,000,  and  of  these  about  80,000  belong  to  the 
Five  Civilized  Tribes,  which  include  a  mixed  population  of  Indians,  negroes,  white 
men  and  mixed  bloods  of  all  sorts  and  degrees.  Of  the  187,000  Indians,  outside 
of  the  Five  Civilized  Tribes,  a  considerable  but  unascertained  number  are  mixed 
bloods.  Some  of  these  half-breeds  are  white — even  blondes — while  others,  and 
many  of  the  quarter  and  eighth  bloods,  look  almost  like  pure  Indians.  Oddly 
enough  and  in  striking  contrast  to  the  offspring  of  negroes  and  whites,  these 
mixed  bloc  js  are  a  stout  and  hardy  race,  prolific  and  apparently  not  especially 
susceptible  to  contagious  diseases,  nor  to  consumption.     I  believe  that  the 


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THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


supposed  increase  in  the  numbers  of  the  Indians  is  largely  among  these  white 
mixed  bloods  and  that  the  Indians  of  pure  blood  are  dying  out — slowly  perhaps, 
but  dying.  I  believe  that  they  will  continue  to  decrease  until,  either  through 
instruction  or  by  the  bitter  experience  of  seeing  their  people  continually  passing 
away  about  them,  they  shall  have  been  taught  the  lesson  of  cleanly  and  whole- 
some living,  a  lesson  which,  if  we  may  judge  them  by  the  past  history  of  the 
white  race,  they  will  not  learn  easily. 

LANDS    IN  SEVERALTY 

During  the  last  twenty  years  many  persons  interested  in  Indians  have 
endeavored  to  devise  some  universal  plan,  which  by  a  single  stroke  should 
civilize  the  Indians,  ending  at  once  all  their  troubles,  and  putting  them  on  the 
same  footing  with  civilized  man  ;  a  mental  medicine  which  should  be  a  cure-all, 
increasing  the  vigor  of  mind  and  the  experience  of  the  savage,  somewhat  as  the 
much  advertised  strengthening  extracts  and  compounds  of  the  present  day  are 
represented  to  add  to  the  user's  physical  powers.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to 
observe  that  none  of  these  plans  has  been  successful.  There  is  no  royal  road  to 
civilization,  which  is  learning,  which  is  experience  Most  parents  will  be  ready 
to  acknowledge  that  they  have  not  succeeded  in  transferring  their  own 
experience  to  their  children  ;  and  the  process  of  teaching  the  savage  in  a  few 
years  or  in  a  generation  the  experience  accumulated  by  the  whites  in  their  slow 
progress  from  savagery  to  civilization  is  equally  difficult. 

Of  these  various  panaceas,  the  one  providing  for  the  allotment  to  the  Indian 
of  lands  in  severalty  has  received  Congressional  approval  and  has  been  tried  on 
a  large  scale. 

The  plan  of  the  allotment  law  is  to  give  the  Indians  their  lands  in  severalty, 
that  is  to  divide  up  the  reservation,  giving  to  each  Indian  a  share  of  the  land 
belonging  to  his  tribe.  These  allotments  are  usually  i6o  acres  of  farming  land 
or  twice  that  area  of  grazing  land.  The  Indian  who  receives  an  allotment 
becomes  thereby  a  citizen  of  the  United  States.  About  6o,ooo  allotments  have 
been  made  since  1887. 

It  is  evident  that  the  plan  of  breaking  up  the  tribal  organization  must  at  some 
time  be  carried  out,  and  in  cases  where  tribv.  occupy  agricultural  lands  and  are 
sufficiently  advanced  to  appreciate  the  importance  of  work,  and  to  exercise  some 
control  over  themselves,  it  is  well  that  they  should  be  placed  on  allotments,  and 
made  to  understand  that  their  living  depends  on  their  cultivating  and  improving 
their  lands. 

The  theor;  of  the  allotment  act  is  excellent  and  the  law  is  sufficiently  elastic 
to  do  great  good  if  intelligently  administered  by  a  wise  and  experienced  man. 
Too  often  it  is  not  so  administered.    The  enthusiastic  supporters  of  the  law. 


SOME   DIFFICULTIES 


167 


believing  in  its  efficacy,  wish  to  see  it  applied  to  all  tribes  as  soon  as  possible. 
Knowing  little  about  actual  Indians,  they  do  not  stop  to  inquire  whether  a  tribe 
is  or  is  not  capable  of  taking  its  own  part  in  life's  struggle;  they  say  that  the  way 
to  make  Indians  self-dependent  is  to  force  them  to  depend  on  themselves,  but  if 
this  principle  were  to  be  carried  out  the  charities  of  the  nation  should  cease 
to-morrow.  Besides  this,  in  dealing  with  Indian  matters  the  interference,  through 
Congress,  by  that  portion  of  the  public  which  dwells  near  the  Indians  and  which 
is  eager  to  secure  their  land  or  any  property  they  may  possess,  must  always  be 
counted  on.  So  that  while  in  some  cases  the  allotment  law  has  worked  very 
well,  in  others  it  has  brought  in  its  train  untold  misery  to  the  people  who  were 
to  have  been  helped  by  it.  In  many  cases  it  has  brought  to  the  Indian  the  very 
evils  from  which  his  friends  wished  to  protect  him,  and  in  place  of  making  him 
self-supporting  and  self-reliant,  it  has  made  him  a  pauper  v/ho  is  now  without 
hope  of  escaping  from  his  pauperism.  It  has  placed  in  the  way  of  the  education 
of  his  children  a  stumbling  block  that  in  many  cases  can  hardly  be  surmounted, 
and  has  made  his  hard  lot  harder  and  more  hopeless  than  it  was  before. 

The  fatally  weak  points  in  the  allotment  law,  as  now  carried  out,  lie  in  the 
tendency  to  apply  it  to  all  tribes,  no  matter  what  their  condition,  progress  or 
situation,  in  the  provision  that  citizenship  shall  go  with  allotments  and  in 
subsequent  legislation  allowing  allottees  to  lease,  or  in  some  cases  even  to  sell, 
their  lands.  In  all  these  respects  the  policy  is  radically  wrong  and  should  be 
changed. 

The  idea  of  parting  with  their  lands,  of  selling  them  outright,  is  one  which 
is  opposed  to  all  the  beliefs  and  traditions  of  the  race.  Indeed,  to  the  Indian 
mind  there  is  something  absolutely  unthinkable  in  the  idea  of  permanently 
alienating  their  lands.  They  do  not  regard  themselves  as  owners  in  fee  of  the 
territory  which  they  hold,  but  only  as  life  tenants.*  These  lands  belong  abso- 
lutely not  to  the  existing  members  of  the  tribe,  but  to  the  tribe  as  a  permanent 
community,  which  existed  long  before  the  present  generation  and  will  continue 
to  exist  long  after  it.  The  unborn  of  the  future  have  rights  in  the  lands  which 
nothing  but  force  can  take  from  them;  certainly  which  their  own  forefathers 


I, 


»  Very  interesting  in  this  connection  is  a  paragraph  in  Miss  Kingsley's  West  African  Studies,  which 
has  been  pointed  out  to  me  since  the  above  was  written,  which  indicates  the  point  of  view  as  to  the  ownership 
of  land  held  by  the  savage  tribes  which  occupy  that  coast.     Miss  Kingsley  says: 

'  'You  will  often  hear  of  the  vast  stretches  of  country  in  Africa  unowned,  and  open  to  all  who  choose  to 
cultivate  them  or  possess  them.  Well,  those  stretches  of  unowned  land  are  not  in  West  Africa.  I  do  not 
pretend  to  know  other  parts  of  the  continent.  In  West  Africa  there  is  not  one  acre  of  land  that  does  not 
belong  to  some  one,  who  is  trustee  of  it,  for  a  set  of  people  who  are  themselves  only  life  tenants,  the  real 
owner  being  the  tribe  in  its  past,  present  and  future  state,  away  into  eternity  at  both  ends.  But  as  West 
African  land  is  a  thing  I  should  not  feel,  even  if  I  had  the  money,  anxious  to  acquire  as  freehold,  and  as  you 
can  get,  under  native  law,  a  safe  possession  of  mining  and  cultivation  rights  from  the  representatives  living  of 
the  tribe  they  belong  to,  I  do  not  think  that  any  interference  is  urgently  needed  with  a  system  fundametitally 
jusf—Wesl  A/rii-an  Studies,  Chap.  XVIIJ.,  p.  43S. 


,f 


II., 


•  l'  I 


M* 


1 68 


THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


have  no  power  to  abrogate  and  which  they  would  never  give  up  except  on 
compulsion.  In  other  words,  the  land  belongs  to  the  tribe,  with  the  right  of 
occupancy  by  the  individual,  but  with  no  power  on  the  part  of  the  individual  to 
alienate  it;  so  that,  not  even  by  the  consent  of  all  the  individuals  representing 
the  tribe  at  any  given  time,  can  the  rights  of  those  unborn  be  bartered  away.  In 
cases  where  lands  in  severalty  havj  been  forced  upon  a  tribe,  this  is  the  bitterest 
complaint  of  all — that  those  who  are  to  come  after  us  will  have  no  lands. 

When  this  law  came  into  active  operation,  there  were  among  the  different 
tribes  as  many  degrees  of  advancement  and  of  material  condition  as  there  were 
tribes.  Some  Indians  occupied  reservations  containing  great  areas  of  farming 
land,  others  deserts,  where  nothing  would  grow.  Some  spoke  English  and  had 
had  so  much  association  with  white  people  that  they  would  make  fairly  good 
citizens  ;  others  were  absolute  strangers  to  civilized  ways  because  they  had  always 
lived  apart  from  civilized  people.  To  force  allotments  on  a  tribe  living  in  a 
region  where  the  average  rainfall  is  only  a  foot  or  fifteen  inches  may  be  a  real 
hardship— even  though,  on  the  pretense  that  the  acres  given  them  are  grazing 
lands,  each  receives  twice  as  much  as  if  it  were  farming  land.  In  a  very  large 
number  of  cases  these  so-called  grazing  lands  produce  nothing — not  even  enough 
vegetation  to  keep  a  single  cow — sometimes  they  are  without  water,  even 
without  access  to  water.  To  insist  that  they  shall  become  self-supporting  from 
these  acres  is  to  ask  what  is  impossible.  So  far  as  the  possibility  of  support  for 
themselves  and  their  families  goes,  the  Indians  might  as  well  each  be  given  320 
acres  of  land  in  the  middle  of  Long  Island  Sound. 

The  Oneida  Indians  have  had  to  do  with  the  white  people  for  nearly  3CXD 
years.  They  speak  English,  understand  more  or  less  of  business  affairs,  have 
some  knowledge  of  the  methods  of  our  government,  possess  farms  which  they 
cultivate,  and  earn  money  in  other  ways.  They  have  received  their  allotments 
and  are  citizens,  and  vote  at  elections  with  perhaps  as  much  intelligence  as  the 
average  man.  The  Jicarilla  Apaches  have  practically  no  acquaintance  with  the 
ways  of  white  men,  speak  only  their  own  tongue  or  a  little  Spanish,  inhabit  a 
desert,  earn  nothing,  have  not  even  a  school  for  their  children,  have  never 
learned  any  lessons  of  self-control  and  a''c  as  ignorant  from  our  point  of  view  as 
it  is  possible  for  a  people  to  be.  They  also  have  received  their  allotments  and 
are  presumptive  citizens. 

The  tribe  first  named  has  been  benefited  by  receiving  their  allotments,  the 
Jicarillas  are  likely  to  be  destroyed  by  theirs. 

A  few  years  ago,  the  Pawnees,  though  even  then  a  dying  race,  were  a  fairly 
industrious  farming  people.  As  they  had  always  done  from  time  immemorial, 
they  tilled  the  soil  and  raised  the  crops  on  which  they  subsisted.  At  last  they 
were  forced  to  take  allotments,  and  ever  since  that    time  they  have  been 


HENRY  WILSON 

MOJAVE    ATACUE 


I'i 


!  I 


I    / 


r 


'.( 


1 


!;■ 


SOME  DIFFICULTIES 


l6q 


deteriorating  more  rapidly  than  ever.  They  have  leased  their  farms  and 
moved  off  to  camp  by  themselves,  spending  their  time  in  idling  and  dancing. 
Whisky  is  freely  sold  them  and  they  drink  more  than  ever  before.  Freed  from 
the  influence  and  control  of  the  agent,  they  object  to  sending  their  children  to 
school,  and  altogether  they  present  a  spectacle  of  physical  and  moral  decadence 
that  is  pitiable  to  one  who  knew  them  in  the  old  days  of  their  partial  strength 
and  apparent  independence. 

A  like  state  of  things  is  found  in  other  tribes,  which  through  the  efforts  of 
entirely  well-meaning  persons  have  had  thrust  upon  them  responsibilities  which 
as  yet  they  are  in  nowise  fitted  to  bear. 

Since — in  a  great  majority  of  cases — the  allotted  Indian  has  had  no  useful 
experience  in  associating  with  white  people,  it  is  cruel  and  in  many  cases  it  is 
absolutely  destructive  to  him  to  throw  him  on  his  own  resources  when  he  takes 
his  land.  If  he  has  any  property  or  any  earning  capacity,  he  becomes  the  easiest 
possible  prey  to  the  swindler,  who  regards  the  Indian  as  fair  game.  I  recall  the 
case  of  an  educated  Pawnee  who  had  much  association  with  the  whites,  whose 
experience  afforded  an  example  of  this.  He  was  a  good  man,  industrious, 
energetic,  hard-working,  and  had  accumulated  quite  a  good  deal  of  property — a 
well-stocked  farm  and  some  ready  money.  To  him  came  the  president  of  a 
local  bank,  who  proposed  that  he  should  become  a  stockholder  and  director 
of  the  institution.  The  president  drew  a  pleasing  picture  of  the  profits  to  be 
received  and  the  consideration  enjoyed  by  a  bank  director.  The  Indian  took 
counsel  with  friends,  one  of  whom  was  a  preacher  of  Indian  blood,  a  friend  also 
of  the  bank  president.  The  outcome  of  it  all  was  that  he  put  his  entire  cash  into 
stock  of  the  bank.  Three  months  later  the  bank  failed.  The  assessment  on 
the  stockholders  took  the  Indian's  live  stock,  his  implements  and  improved 
farm,  leaving  him  in  middle  life  to  begin  the  world  anew.  That  the  defaulting 
bank  president  who  imposed  on  the  credulity  of  the  Indian  was  sent  to  state's 
prison  for  a  short  term  was  but  little  satisfaction  for  the  man  who  had  been 
swindled. 

A  law  passed  in  January,  1897,  forbids  the  sale  of  liquor  to  an  Indian 
allotee,  but  it  is  not  at  all  regarded;  often  its  existence  is  unknown.  In  practice 
the  Indian,  who  is  a  citizen,  is  free  to  squander  his  property  for  whisky,  and  to 
get  drunk  as  often  as  he  pleases;  he  is  entitled  to  a  citizen's  privileges.  He 
may  laugh  at  the  agent  who  urges  him  to  send  his  children  to  school.  He  knows 
that  the  agency  policeman  can  no  longer  be  sent  out  to  gather  up  the  children 
for  the  school,  for  now  he  is  governed  by  the  laws  of  the  State  in  which  he 
resides.     He  is  a  citizen. 

The  effort  of  the  government  has  constantly  been  to  induce  the  Indian  to 
undertake  steady  labor,  but  the  allotted  Indian  is  permitted  to  lease  his  land  to 


I    •' 


VI 


^ 


f< 


%\ 


\\ 


I 


^t 


170 


THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


a  white  man  and  to  live  as  he  can  on  the  rent  in  absolute  idleness.  His  land 
yields  him  a  partial  support,  it  is  true,  hut  he  Itarns  nothing,  forms  no  t;ood 
habits,  and  receives  for  himself  and  his  children  only  a  training  in  pauperism. 

No  hard  and  fast  rule  of  treatment  can  be  established  for  successful  appli- 
cation to  all  the  Indians  found  in  North  America.  And  to  the  fact  that  this 
seems  never  to  be  understood  are  due  many  of  the  misfortunes  which  have 
been  endured  by  some  of  the  tribes. 

WORK  AND  A  LIVELIHOOD 

Of  all  the  problems  which  to-day  confront  the  Indian,  none  is  so  vital  nor 
any  so  difficult  of  solution  as  that  which  has  to  do  with  his  earning  a  livelihood. 
How  can  he  procure  food  and  clothing  for  himself  and  family?  Before  he  can 
become  civilized  and  be  a  self-respecting  citizen  he  must  become  dependent  on  his 
own  exertions — must  cither  produce  the  articles  which  are  to  contribute  to  his 
support  by  his  own  efforts,  or  must  purchase  them  with  money.  How  can  this 
money  be  obtained?  Here,  let  us  say,  are  one  or  two  thousand  Indians  living 
on  a  reservation  in  the  West,  in  a  country  not  at  all,  or  at  best  very  sparsely, 
inhabited  by  white  people.  The  Indians  are  all  equally  poor,  having  no  money 
and  no  means  of  earning  any,  e.xcept  perhaps  a  few  dollars  annually  received  for 
the  hay  and  wood  which  they  furnish,  or  for  freighting,  and  these  small  sums,  as 
soon  as  received,  are  spent  for  the  most  needed  articles  of  food  and  clothing. 
There  is  little  or  no  opportunity  for  a  man  to  hire  out  his  service  to  white  men; 
usually  there  is  nothing  that  he  can  make  that  any  one  wishes  to  purchase;  the 
country  very  likely  is  not  a  farming  country,  so  that  he  can  raise  nothing  from 
the  ground;  he  possesses  no  cattle,  and  his  horses  have  no  money  value. 

In  the  Indian  Service  there  are  a  few  positions  which  may  be  occupied  by 
educated  Indians  who  draw  modest  salaries  but  these  sums  are  trifling  when  the 
whole  body  of  Indians  is  considered.  On  each  reservation  there  is  a  small  force 
of  Indian  police,  who  assist  the  agent  in  keeping  order,  act  as  his  messengers  and 
see  that  his  instructions  are  carried  out.  These  men  receive  a  compensation  of 
ten  dollars  a  month  for  privates  and  fifteen  for  officers,  pay  which  is  ridiculously 
inadequate,  when  it  is  considered  that  they  must  hold  themselves  in  readiness 
at  any  time  to  obey  orders,  that  they  furnish  their  own  horses,  that  they  must 
sometimes  risk  their  lives,  and  that  the  position  often  entails  an  entire  loss  of 
popularity  with  their  people.  The  police  are  a  faithful,  hard-working,  uncom- 
plaining body  of  men;  many  have  been  killed  and  many  others  disabled  in  the 
service.  The  position  is  one  of  great  responsibility,  and  enlailing  hard  work  and 
often  danger,  should  be  very  much  better  paid  than  it  is.  The  law  providing  for 
the  employment  of  these  policemen  ought  to  be  so  amended  that  they  should  be 
paid  $35  a  month  for  privates  and  $50  a  month  for  officers;  besides  which  there 


SOME   DIFFICULTIES 


«7« 


ills  I.ukI 
no  yood 
•rism. 
ul  applt- 
that  this 
lich  have 


vital  nor 
ivelihood. 
re  he  can 
ent  on  his 
Lite  to  his 
V  can  this 
gins  living 
/  sparsely, 

no  money 

ceived  for 

11  sums,  as 

clothing. 

hite  men; 
chase;  the 
:hing  from 
ie. 

ccupied  by 
g  when  the 
small  force 
iengers  and 
ensation  of 
ridiculously 
n  readiness 
t  they  must 
itire  loss  of 
ing,  uncom- 
ibled  in  the 
rd  work  and 
roviding  for 
:y  should  be 
which  there 


should  be  a  provision  for  pensioning  members  of  the  force  who  are  disabh-d  by 
injuries  received  in  the  discharge  of  duty. 

There  are  a  number  of  tribes  which  are  now  partially  or  wholly  self-supporting, 
but  there  are  many  others  which,  h()wev<T  willing  they  may  be  to  work,  are,  by 
the  very  condition  of  their  environment,  absolutely  barred  from  taking  the  first 
step  toward  self-support.  The  Sioux  of  the  Pine  Ridge  reservation  have  many 
thousand  cattle,  and  this  industry  is  so  well  established  that  they  are  likely  to 
succeed  with  it  and  to  become  self-supporting  by  stock  raising.  Certain  tribes 
in  the  Indian  Territory  and  elsewhere  are  successful  as  agriculturists  and  support 
themselves  by  farming  about  as  well  as  do  their  white  neighbors.  But  what 
shall  be  done  with  tribes  like  the  Northern  Cheyennes  or  the  Jicarilla  Apaches, 
who  have  no  farms  nor  any  possibility  of  them,  and  no  cattle  nor  any  prospect  of 
them,  who  cannot  make  anything,  because  there  is  no  one  to  purchase  their 
manufactures,  who  cannot  work  as  laborers,  because  there  is  no  one  to  hire  them? 

It  is  perfectly  true  that  the  Indian  of  to-day  is  ready  to  work.  He  knows 
that  in  -ler  to  live  with  any  comfort  he  must  have  money  with  which  to  buy 
things  and  ne  appreciotes  fully  that  money  can  only  come  to  him  as  compensation 
for  labor  performed.  The  Apache  women  make  journeys  into  the  mountains 
for  fifteen  or  twenty  miles,  with  their  butcher  knives  cut  hay  enough  to  make  a 
load  for  a  jackass,  and  bring  it  to  market  to  sell. 

When  the  irrigation  ditches  were  building  on  the  Crow  reservation,  the 
whole  male  population  of  the  adjacent  Northern  Cheyenne  tribe  applied  for 
permission  to  go  to  work  on  the  Crow  ditches.  I  have  seen  Northern  Cheyenne 
men  working  at  hay-making  and  at  digging  post  holes  at  9  o'clock  at  night, 
when  it  was  so  dark  that  one  could  not  recognize  faces  at  a  little  distance. 

Years  ago,  when  the  old  belief  that  crops  could  be  grown  on  the  Blackfoot 
reservation  was  still  held,  some  Piegan  men  talking  with  me  told  me  of  how  they 
had  tried  to  cultivate  the  ground  and  how  hard  they  had  worked  at  it. 

One  of  them  said:  "  I  had  150  steps  long  of  oats  and  asked  the  agent  to  give 
me  something  to  cut  the  grain  with,  but  he  would  not  give  me  anything.  I  had 
to  cut  my  harvest  with  a  butcher  knife.  Many  Indians  cut  their  harvest  with 
butcher  knives.  There  was  a  stiff-armed  man;  he  could  not  bend  one  of  his 
arms.  He  also  had  to  cut  his  grain  with  a  butcher-knife,  holding  up  the  grain 
against  his  stiff  arm."  Another  said:  "Many  families  had  no  horses  to  plough 
with.  In  many  cases  women  and  men  tied  ropes  about  themselves  and  to  the 
plough,  and  pulled  it  through  the  ground,  one  man  walking  behind  to  hold  the 
plough,  and  the  men  and  women  pulling  a  little  way,  and  then  stopping  to  pant 
and  blow,  while  the  sweat  ran  down  their  bodies,  for  it  was  very  hot." 

A  third  who  wished  to  raise  a  crop  but  could  get  no  plough  said:  "1  and 
two  women  worked  the  ground  with  a  hoe,  chopping  out  the  hard  soil." 


m 


' -r^^^rw^^rmm 


l<    / 


■ 


,  I    i 

[Ml      I 


Y        ^1 


:f  ''m 


1 

!   ■ 
1 

.        i 

I  i  I 


.     (,: 


II 


ik 


m 


173 


THE  INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


Vet  another  said:  "  I  know  that  many  Indians  cut  their  hay  and  grain  with 
butcher  knives,  and  the  women  crept  about  on  their  hands  and  knees  and 
gathered  up  the  stalks." 

Others  at  this  same  time  told  how  the  Indians  threshed  out  their  grain  upon 
the  ground  by  beating  it  with  sticks.  Thus  in  the  case  of  this  particular  tribe 
extraordinary  efforts  were  put  forth  and  the  hardest  possible  work  was  done  in 
the  attempt  to  raise  crops.  No  white  man  would  ever  have  toiled  to  conquer  the 
stubborn  prairie  as  these  Indians  toiled,  and  yet  people  say  the  Indians  are  lazy. 

A  number  of  intelligent  efforts  to  find  paying  work  for  Indians  have  been 
made  in  recent  years,  sometimes  under  the  auspices  of  societies  interested  in 
''lejr  welfare,  or  of  teachers  appointed  by  the  government,  or  those  working  for 
.  mission  schools.  In  some  cases  the  attempts  to  stimulate  them  to  the  practice 
of  civilized  activities  have  been  very  successful.  Among  certain  tribes  in 
Minnesota,  Dakota  and  Montana  the  art  of  lace-making  is  practiced  by  Indian 
women  and  girls  with  success,  and  it  is  said  that  there  is  a  market  for  all  that 
they  can  manufacture.  Their  product  is  sometimes  very  beautiful  and  is  highly 
praised  by  experts.  It  is  gratifying  to  note  that  a  school  of  pottery  has  been 
started,  for  which  there  should  be  a  good  prospect  of  success.  This  industry  has 
been  practiced  by  the  race  from  the  earliest  times,  and  it  is  not  to  be  doubted 
that  they  will  take  hold  of  it  with  interest,  and  after  a  little  will  carry  it  on 
successfully  On  another  page  mention  is  made  of  the  interest  taken  in  knitting 
by  the  wome  1  of  a  certain  small  band  of  Piutes,  an  interest  so  great  that  it 
has  almost  d'-»ven  out  gambling  from  the  camp. 

To  give  the  Indian  something  to  do  by  which  he  can  earn  money,  and  in 
which  he  will  be  interested,  either  for  the  work  itself  or  for  the  reward  which  it 
will  bring,  is  at  present  the  very  best  and  most  practical  thing  that  we  can  do  for 
him.  If  he  is  to  be  civilized  he  must  be  like  the  civilized  man  in  having  an 
occupation,  and  a  motive  for  following  it  earnestly  and  continuously. 

I  must  not  be  understood  as  believing  that  if  we  do  our  duty  by  the  Indians 
they  will  soon  all  become  prosperous  and  useful  citizens.  Indians,  being  human, 
are  good  and  bad,  strong  and  weak,  worthy  and  undeserving.  I  insist  merely  that 
the  wise  and  paying  policy  for  this  nation  is  to  offer  to  the  Indians  opportunities 
of  self-help  which  they  are  capable  of  grasping,  so  that  those  who  can  be  saved 
may  survive  the  destruction  of  their  old  life  and  may  have  an  opportunity  to 
begin  the  new  with  a  reasonable  prospect  of  success.  Among  the  Indians 
struggling  upward  there  will  always  be — as  among  other  men  everywhere — 
poverty,  discouragement  and  failure;  paupers,  laborers,  and  well-to-do.  But 
let  us  give  to  this  savage  man  a  fair  chance  to  adapt  himself  to  civilized  life, 
before  we  determine  that  he  is  not  worth  saving;  and  let  us  not  cast  him  adrift 
to  sink  or  swim  as  he  may. 


rain  with 
nees  and 

rain  upon 
ular  tribe 
,s  done  in 
nquer  the 
5  are  hizy. 
have  been 
crested  in 
jrking  for 
le  practice 
tribes  in 
by  Indian 
for  all  that 
id  is  highly 
y  has  been 
idustry  has 
be  doubted 
carry   it  on 
1  in  knitting 
;reat  that  it 

mey,  and  in 
ird  which  it 
;  can  do  for 
1  having  an 

the  Indians 
eing  human, 
t  merely  that 
opportunities 
can  be  saved 
pportunity  to 
the   Indians 
everywhere — 
1-to-do.     But 
civilized  life, 
St  him  adrift 


M': 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  RED  MAN  AND  THE  WHITE 

The  first  meetings  between  the  Indians  and  the  white  discoverers  were 
friendly,  and  indeed  in  some  cases  the  simple  natives  hailed  the  newly  arrived 
people  as  gods,  but  it  did  not  take  long  for  the  human  nature  to  make  itself 
manifest.  The  Indians  were  kindly  and  hospitable,  offering  to  the  whites — as 
was  their  custom  with  all  strangers-^-the  best  that  they  had  in  the  way  of  food 
and  supplies  ;  and  for  this  the  whites  at  first  were  properly  grateful.  After 
they  had  established  themselves,  however,  and  learning  the  character  of  the 
natives  had  become  confident  of  their  own  position,  they  began  to  impose  on 
the  savages,  taking  their  corn  without  the  formality  of  asking  for  it,  occasionally 
abusing  the  women,  often  bullying  the  men,  sometimes  settling  on  land  occupied 
by  the  Indians,  and  what  was  worse  than  all,  to  the  Indian  mind,  endeavoring  to 
impose  on  them  the  laws  by  which  the  whites  governed  themselves. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  the  Indians  did  not  like  this.  They  protested  and 
remonstrated.  The  more  pacific  moved  farther  back  from  the  settlements,  in 
order  to  get  out  of  the  way;  others,  more  fiery,  opposed  outrage  and  imposition 
by  force;  and  so  the  wars  began.  They  have  continued  until  within  a  few  years. 
Indian  wars  have  usually  been  brought  on  by  ill  treatment,  sometimes  by 
misunderstanding.  The  pledged  faith  of  the  government  has  been  contin- 
ually violated  ;  the  Indians  have  been  constantly  robbed  and  driven  back. 
No  people  in  the  world  are  more  attached  to  their  homes  and  their  country  than 
these,  but  the  history  of  three  hundred  years  is  one  long  story  of  their  expulsion 
from  home  and  country. 

A  treaty  made  with  the  Delawares  at  Fort  Kipp,  during  the  Revolutionary 
War  declared  that:  "Whereas  i;he  enemies  of  the  United  States  have 
enr'  avored  by  every  artifice  to  possess  the  Indians  with  an  opinion  that  it  is  our 
design  to  extirpate  them  and  take  possession  of  their  country;  to  obviate  such 
false  suggestions,  the  United  States  guarantee  to  said  nation  of  Delawares  and 
their  heirs  all  their  territorial  rights  in  the  fullest  and  most  ample  manner  as 
bounded  by  former  treaty." 

By  a  treaty  made  in  1785  the  lands  of  these  Indians  were  located  in  Ohio 
between  Lake  Erie  and  the  Ohio  River  and  the  Cuyahoga  and  Big  Miami 
Rivers.  This,  of  course,  meant  that  a  large  territory  had  been  given  up  and 
that  they  had  been  driven  into  a  new  land — one  which  was  entirely  strange  to 
them.     In   1787  the  President  directed  the  governor  of  the  territory  northwest 

»73 


'  'r   11 


174 


THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


.> 


I 


II 


M    f 


h(ii 


of  the  Ohio  not  to  neglect  any  opportunity  that  might  offer  of  extinguishing 
the  Indian  rights  to  the  westward  as  far  as  the  Mississippi.  In  1792  some  of  the 
Delawares  are  mentioned  among  the  tribes  that  were  hostile,  and  an  address 
was  sent  to  them,  asking  them  to  make  peace  and  assuring  them  that  the  United 
States  did  not  wish  to  deprive  them  of  their  lands  and  drive  them  out  of  the 
country,  and  saying  further:  "  Remember  that  no  additional  lands  will  be 
required  of  you,  or  any  other  tribe,  to  those  that  have  been  ceded  by  former 
treaty."  Similar  promises  violated  in  the  same  manner  were  made  for  nearly 
100  years.  The  list  might  be  indefinitely  extended,  but  it  is  too  familiar,  and 
it  has  been  gone  into  with  much  fullness  by  Mrs.  Jackson  in  the  Century  of 
Dishonor. 

One  after  another,  tribes  of  the  Indians  moved  on  and  were  duly  extermi- 
nated, or  else  were  gathered  together  on  small  reservations  and  the  tide  of 
civilization  passed  by  and  surrounded  them.  Even  to-day,  however,  among 
the  western  tribes,  where  all  these  things  took  place  within  the  last  fifty  years, 
you  may  sometimes  hear  from  old  men  stories  of  the  first  treaties  made  with  the 
whites. 

Many  years  ago,  while  I  was  encamped  with  the  Northern  Cheyennes,  an 
old  man  repeated  to  me  the  substance  of  a  speech  made  in  his  hearing  by  a 
chief  at  the  Horse  Creek  Treaty.  This  chief  was  opposed  to  permitting  the  white 
men  to  come  into  or  pass  through  the  country  of  the  Northern  Cheyennes,  which 
then  extended  from  the  Yellowstone  south  as  far  as  the  North  Platte  Rivei. 
This  old  chief  said:  "  We  ought  not  to  let  these  white  people  come  into  the 
country.  They  will  do  for  us  nothing  that  is  good.  These  men  will  give  you 
nothing.  Even  so  small  a  thing  as  a  needle  they  will  make  you  pay  for.  If  you 
receive  these  things  they  want  to  trade,  if  you  eat  of  their  food,  you  will 
become  sickly  and  begin  to  die,  and  a  time  will  come  when  you  will  all  die. 
You  now  live  well.  What  one  has,  all  have.  If  one  man  has  nothing,  another 
divides  with  him.  But  these  people  do  not  live  like  this.  They  will  not  divide 
with  you.  If  you  let  them  come  among  you,  by  and  by  you  will  get  tired  of 
them,  but  then  it  will  be  too  late.  You  cannot  get  rid  of  them.  They  will  come 
to  be  many,  and  will  marry  your  women,  and  then  will  go  off  and  leave  them 
and  their  children.  By  and  by,  they  will  be  wanting  you  to  write  on  paper  as 
the  white  man  does,  but  you  have  no  need  to  write.  When  you  meet  people  you 
cannot  talk  with,  you  can  make  signs  and  talk  with  your  hands.  By  and  by  they 
will  want  to  take  away  your  children  and  teach  them  to  write  on  paper.  You 
love  your  children  and  do  not  want  to  part  with  them.  You  all  know  that  if  you 
find  a  bird's  nest  and  take  the  young  birds,  the  old  one  flies  all  around  trying  to 
get  them  back.  If  they  teach  your  children  to  read  and  write,  that  will  do  them 
no  good.    If  the  children  write  to  a  man  and  ask  him  for  anything  he  will  not  give 


r^  'i 

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n^ 

THE  RED  MAN  AND  THE  WHITE 


175 


shing 
•f  the 
Idress 
Jnited 
of  the 
ni  be 
iormer 
nearly 
ar,  and 
iury  of 

xtermi- 
tide  of 
among 
[y  years, 
with  the 

;nnes.  an 

ring  by  a 

the  white 

les,  which 

:te  Rivei. 

2  into  the 

1  give  you 

r.     If  you 
you  will 

ill  all  die. 
g,  another 
not  divide 
et  tired  of 
I  will  come 
eave  them 
n  paper  as 
people  you 
md  by  they 
|aper.    You 
that  if  you 
id  trying  to 
ill  do  them 
ill  not  give 


it  to  them.  These  white  men  will  tell  you  that  their  Great  Father  wants  your 
children  to  learn  this  writing.  But  even  when  they  have  learned  it,  if  one  writes 
to  the  Great  Father  to  ask  for  anything  he  will  give  him  nothing;  he  will 
just  throw  the  paper  away." 

This  chief  made  other  prophecies,  most  of  which  have  since  come  true  in  a 
singular  manner,  but  he  failed  to  accomplish  his  object;  the  treaty  was  made 
and  the  white  man  came.     Having  come,  he  remained. 

The  outcome  of  the  white  invasion  was  inevitable,  and  while  the  manner  of 
its  accomplishment  must  be  regretted,  it  cannot  be  altered.  But  is  it  not  worth 
while  for  this  great  nation  in  the  second  century  of  its  growth,  when  it  is  stronger 
and  greater  than  ever  before,  when  its  influence  is  felt  over  170  degrees  of 
longitude,  when  it  is  beginning  to  deal  with  other  simple  races  which  it  must 
control  and  endeavor  to  civilize,  to  give  more  thought  to  the  Indians?  No 
people  are  more  easily  handled;  none  respond  more  quickly  to  genuine  interest; 
none  give  more  frankly  and  entirely  their  trust  when  it  is  shown  to  be  deserved; 
none  are  more  ready  to  follow  the  good  advice  of  the  trusted  friend.  A  few  years 
of  consistently  just  and  intelligent  treatment  by  Congress,  of  thoroughly  good 
agents,  of  proper  schooling,  would  settle  all  the  Indian  questions  which  we  have 
been  wrangling  over  so  long,  and  which,  to  a  few  thousand  white  people  are  so 
real,  and  to  the  quarter  of  a  million  of  people  whom  they  most  closely  affect  are 
of  such  vital  interest.  The  results  sure  to  follow  would  justify  a  thousand  fold 
the  adoption  of  such  a  policy,  for  it  would  mean  that  at  the  end  of  this  period 
the  great  majority  of  the  Indians  would  be  workers,  producers  and  Americans. 


r 


f  'J ' 


i^- 


INDEX 


Acoma,  6a,  113. 

Advancement.     (See  Agencies.) 

Agencies: 

Bad  River,  95. 
Blackfeet,  77, 

Cheyenne  and  Arapaho,  78. 

Cheyenne  River,  79. 

Colorado  River,  79, 

Colville,  81. 

Croiy,  82. 

Crow  Creek,  83,  99. 

Devil's  Lake,  84. 

Eastern  Cherokee,  85. 

Flathead,  86. 

Fort  Apache,  87. 

Fort  Belknap,  88. 

Fort  Berthold,  90. 

Fort  Hall,  90. 

Fort  Peck,  91. 

Grande  Ronde,  93. 

Green  Bay,  92. 

Hoopa  Valley,  94. 

Hualapai,  94. 

Jicarilla  Apaches,  95. 

Kiowa,  96. 

Klamath,  97. 

La  Pointe,  97. 

Leech  Lake,  98. 

Lemhi,  99. 

Lower  Brul£,  100. 

Medawakanton  Sioux,  100. 

Mescalero,  100. 

Mission-Tule,  loi. 

Navajo,  102. 

Neah  Bay,  104. 

Nevada,  104. 

New  York,  104. 

Nez  Percys,  106. 

Omaha  and  Winnebago,  107. 

Osage,  107. 


Agencik.s — Continued. 

Pima,  108. 

Pine  Ridge,  109. 

Ponca  Pawnee  and  Oto,  1 10. 

Pawnee,  iii. 

Pottawatomi  and  Great  Nemaha,  iii. 

Pueblo,  112. 

Puyallup  Consolidated,  115. 

Quapaw,  115. 

Rosebud,  116. 

Round  Valley,  117. 

Sac  and  Fox  (Okl.),  118. 

Sac  and  Fox  (Iowa),  119. 

San  Carlos,  87,  119. 

San  tee,  121. 

Shoshone,  123, 

Siletz,  124. 

Sisseton,  124. 

Southern  Ute,  125. 

Standing  Rock,  126. 

Tongue  River,  127. 

Tulalip,  128. 

Uinta  and  Ouray,  1 29. 

Umatilla,  129. 

Union,  130. 

Walker  River,  133. 

Warm  Springs,  134. 

Western  Shoshone,  134. 

White  Earth,  96,  135. 

Yakima,  135. 

Yankton,  136. 
Agents— Appointed  for  Political  Services,  4. 

Duties  of,  147. 

Frequent  changes  of,  4. 
Agent's  Rule,  The,  145. 
Agriculture.     (See  Agencies.) 
Aleutian  Islands,  55. 
Aleuts,  55. 

Algonquian  Family,  50. 
Algonquian  Tribes,  53. 


177 


1/   II 


178 


THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-UAY 


) 


hi 


11  a     1 


>    t' 


;i 


Allegany  Reservation,  105 

American  Folk-Lore  Journal,  45. 

American  Anthropologist,  60. 

Anadarko,  77,  97. 

Animal  Powers,  ao. 

Anti(iuity  of  the  Race,  i. 

Anthropologist,  American,  60. 

Apache  Prisoners,  76. 

Apache,  White  Mountain,  87. 

Area  of  Reservations,  75. 

Arapaho  and  Cheyenne  Agency,  78. 

Athabasca,  Meaning  of,  51. 

Athapascan  Family,  51. 

Alius,  23. 

Attacapan  Family,  52. 

Baker  Massacre,  5. 

Beliefs,  13. 

Beach,  Lieut.  F.  H.,  76. 

Bear  Man  (story),  21. 

Beothukan  Family,  52. 

Big  Foot,  10,  II. 

Big  Spotted  Horse,  31. 

Blackfeet  Agency,  77. 

Blackfoot  Confederation,  45. 

Blackfoot  Creator,  45. 

Blackfoot  Lodge  Tales,  25,  73. 

Blackfoot  Sun  and  Moon  Myth,  45. 

Blue  Hawk's  Captivity,  73. 

Blue  Jay  Stories,  25. 

Boas,  Dr.  Franz,  25,  70. 

Bravery,  10. 

Brinton,  Dr.  D.  G.,  49,  56,  59,  64,  71. 

Buffalo  Wife,  25,  35. 

Bureau  of  Ethnology,  50,  138. 

Caddoan  Family,  53. 
Canadian  Indians,  140. 
Canby,  General,  59. 
Captivity,  Blue  Hawk's,  73. 
Casas  Grandes,  60. 
Cattaraugus  Reservation,  105. 
Causes  of  Tribal  vSeparations,  49. 
Ceremonial,  Thunder,  17. 
Chamberlain,  Montague,  139. 
Character,  Physical,  i. 
Character,  Indian,  7. 
Cheerfulness,  9. 

Cherokee  Agency,  Eastern,  85,  86. 
Cheyenne  and  Arapaho  Agency,  78. 


Cheyenne  River  Agency,  79. 
Cheyenncs,  Northern,  5,  13. 

Reservation  of,  127. 
Chimakuan  Family,  71. 
Chimarikar.  Family,  71. 
Chimmesyan  Family,  54. 
Chinook  Indians,  25. 
Chinookan  Family,  54- 
Chippewas.     (See  Tribal  Names.) 
Chippewas  m  Michigan,  137. 
Chippewyan,  Meaning  of,  51. 
Chiracahua  Agency,  87. 
Chitimachan  F"amily,  53,  54. 
Chittum  Bark,  124. 
Chivington  Fight,  5. 
Chumashan  Family,  71. 
Clapp,  Maj.  W.  H.,  110. 
Classification  by  Language,  49. 
Coahuiltecan  Family,  71. 
Cochiti,  62,  113. 
Cold  Maker,  17. 
Colorado  River  Agency,  79. 
Comanche  Chief,  73. 
Common  Ownership  in  Food,  9. 
Communal  Houses,  61. 
Community  of  Property,  8. 
(Condition.     (See  Agencies.) 
Confederacy,  P'lwhatan,  138. 
Confederation,  Black  toot,  45. 
Consideration  for  Others,  9. 
Copihan  Family,  55. 
Costanoan  Family,  71. 
Courage,  10. 

Course  of  Sioux  Migration,  66. 
Coyote  Stories,  25. 
Creation,  Story  of,  14,  15. 
Creator,  20. 
Creator,  Blackfoot,  45. 
Crow  Creek  Agency,  83,  100. 
Curtis  Act,  131. 

Dakota,  65,  67. 

Dance,  Young  Dog's,  25,  27. 

Dawes,  Hon.  H.  L.,  154. 

D6ne,  51. 

Devil's  Lake  Agency,  84. 

Difficulties,  Some,  163. 

Digger  Indians,  85. 

Dinne,  51. 

Disease,  3.     (See  also  Agencies.) 


u 


iM 


Distribution  of  Indians,  Former,  49. 
Duels,  II. 

Dull  Knife  Outbreak,  5,  109. 
Duncan,  William,  54 

Ea^le  Catching,  aS. 

Eastern  Cherokee  Agency,  85. 

Education,  153. 

Employment  and  a  Livelihood,  170. 

Eskimoan  Family,  55. 

Essclenian  Family,  71. 

Ethnology,  Bureau  of,  138. 

Evening  Star,  Sacrifice  to,  i6. 


Families,  Linguistic,  49  et  seq. 
Fidelity  to  Friends,  9. 
Five  Civilized  Tribes,  130. 
Flathead  Agency,  86. 
Flathead  Lake,  87. 
Folk-lore,  Belief  in,  15. 
Fond  du  Lac  Chippewa,  135. 

Reservation,  95. 
Former  Distribution  of  Indians,  49. 
Fort  Apache  Agency,  87. 
Fort  Belknap  Agency,  88. 
Fort  Berthold  Agency,  88. 
Fort  Christanna,  67. 
Fort  Hall  Agency,  90. 
Fort  Lapwai  School,  107, 
Fort  Peck,  91. 
Fort  Peck  Reservation,  9a. 

Gatschet,  A.  S.,  65. 

Gesture  Speech,  13. 

Ghost  Wife,  19. 

Gila  Bend  Reservation,  109. 

Gila  Valley,  60. 

Grande  Ronde  Agency,  9a. 

Grass  Lodge  People,  73. 

Green  Bay  Agency,  9a. 

Hale,  H.,  56,  65. 

Hano,  63. 

Hasatch,  62. 

Hayes,  Major  Luke  C. ,  90. 

Health,  163. 

Health  of  Tribes.     (vSee  Agencies.) 

H6  amma  wihio,  12. 

Hiawatha,  56. 

History,  Tribal,  13 


INDEX 


179 


Ho  (m  a  ha,  17,  14. 
Holy  Family  Mission,  78. 
Horses,  Influence  of,  a. 
Hospitality,  9. 
Hualapai  Agency,  94. 
Hoopa  Valley  Agency,  94. 

Immaculate  Conception  School,  84. 

Indian  Bureau,  4,  75. 

Indian  Character,  7. 

Indian,  Old  Life  of,  3. 

Indian  Population,  140. 

Indian  Service,  Improvement  in,  3. 

Indian  Warfare,  5. 

Influence  of  White  Neighbors,  5. 

Innuit,  55. 

Instruction  of  the  Young,  13. 

Intermarriage,  73. 

Iroquoian  Family,  56. 

Iroquois,  Nations  of  the,  105, 

Isleta  (in  New  Mexico),  6a,  nj. 

Isleta  (in  Texas),  63. 

Jemez,  6a,  113. 
Joseph  (Nez  Perc€),  64. 
Journal,  American  Folk-Lore,  45. 

Kalapooian  Family,  71. 
Karankawan  Family,  57. 
Kate  Drexel  School,  13a. 
Kercsan  F-imily,  62. 
Kiowa  Agency,  97. 
Kiowan  Family,  57. 
Kitunahan  Family,  58. 
Klamath  Agency,  98. 
Koluschan  Family,  58,  69,  70. 
Kulanapan  Family,  58. 
Kusan  Family,  71. 
Kutenai,  58. 

Lac  Court  d'Oreilles  Reservation,  96. 

Laguna,  62,  113. 

Lands  in  Severalty,  166. 

Language,  Classification  by,  49,  50. 

L'Anse  and  Vieux  Desert  Chippewa,  137. 

League  of  the  Six  Nations,  56. 

Leech  Lake  Agency,  96. 

Lemhi  Agency,  99. 

Life  on  the  Reservation,  141. 

Limited  Opportunities  for  Work,  4,  1 70. 


• 


r 


i 


I  / 


17       ij 


t 


(  h 


180 


THE   INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


Linguistic  Stocks,  Number  of,  a,  50. 

Lodge  Tales,  Ulackfoot,  35,  73. 

Lone  C'hief,  11. 

Loup  Fork,  53. 

Lower  Brul6  Agency,  100. 

Lutuamian  Family,  59. 

Mnriposon  Family,  71. 

Massacre,  Baker,  5. 

Mataponny,  138. 

McGee,  W  J,  63. 

Medicine  Chief,  28. 

Medicine  Lodge,  17. 

Medicine  Lodge  Treaty,  57. 

Menestf5kos,  45. 

Mescalero  Agency,  100. 

Metlakahtla,  New,  54. 

Miamis,  137. 

Michigan  Chippewa,  137. 

Migration  of  Sioux,  65,  66. 

Mille  Lacs  Chippewa,  135. 

Mississippi  Chippewa,  135. 

Mission-Tule  Agency,  loi. 

Modoc  War,  59. 

Monsters,  Underwater,  17,  18. 

Moon,  16. 

Mooney,  James,  56,  57,  60,  63,  66,  67. 

Moquelumnan  Family,  71. 

Morning  Star,  16. 

Mound  Builders,  59. 

Murder,  Punishment  for,  9. 

Muskhogean  Family,  59. 

Myths,  14. 

Myth,  Blackfoot  Sun  and  Moon,  45. 

Nahuatlan  Family,  59. 

Nahlirac,  21. 

Nambe,  6i,  114. 

Name  Flathead,  63. 

Nanibozho,  65. 

Nanticoke,  137. 

N^pi,  45,  48,  65. 

N^pioa,  45. 

Ndpiu,  4f 

Natchesan  Family,  59. 

N.  A.  Tribes,  Number  of,  50. 

Navajo  Agency,  102.  1 

Neah  Bay  Agency,  104. 

Nevada  Agency,  104. 

New  Metlakahtla,  54. 


New  York  Agency,  105. 
Nez  Percds,  63. 
Nez  Percds  War,  63. 
Nez  Percds  Agency,  106. 
Ni-di,  21. 
Nooksaak,  138. 
North  American  Indians,  i. 
Northern  Chcyennes,  127. 
Number  of  Indians,  75. 
Number  of  Linguistic  Stocks, 
Number  of  N    A.  Tribes,  50. 
Number  of  Reservations,  75. 


a,  so. 


Old  Life  of  Indian,  3. 

Old  Man,  48. 

Omaha  and  Winnebago  Agency,  107. 

Oral  Tradition,  13. 

Origin  of  the  Indian,  i. 

Osage  Agency,  107. 

Paguate,  62,  113. 

Pahukdtavah,  32. 

Palaihnihan  Family,  55,  71. 

Pamunkeys,  138. 

Paraje,  114. 

Pawnee  Hero  Stories  and   Folk  Tales,  19, 

21,  73- 
Pawnees,  Traditions  of,  53. 
Pawnee  Tribes,  53. 
Peace  with  the  Snakes,  73. 
Pembina  Chippewa,  135. 
Physical  Character,  i. 
Picuris,  62,  1 13. 
Piegan  Indians,  5. 
Pillager  Chippewa,  135. 
Pima  Agency,  108. 
Piman  Family,  60. 
Pine  Ridge  Agency,  109. 
Pine  Ridge  Reservation,  109. 
Pipe  Chief,  27. 
Plains  Indian,  2,  20. 
Pojoaque,  62. 

Political  Services,  Agents  Appointed  for,  4. 
Pollard,  Jno.  Garland,  138. 
Potlatch,  70. 

Ponca,  Pawnee  and  Oto  Agency,  110. 
Poplar  River  Agency,  91. 
Pottawatomi  and  Great  Nemaha  Agency,  1 10. 
Powell,  Major  J.  W.,  50. 
Powhatan  Confederacy,  138. 


INDEX 


181 


Prejudice  againRt  Indian,  5, 

PriHoners,  Apache,  76. 

Fueblo  Ajfency,  113. 

Pueblo  F'amilics,  61. 

Pueblo  of  Zufli,  71. 

Pujanan  Family,  55,  71, 

Punishment  for  Murder,  9. 

Punyeestye,  62. 

Punyekia,  6j. 

Pusityitcho,  6a. 

Puyallup  Consolidated  Agency,  115. 

Pyramid  Lake,  104. 

Pyramid  Lake  Reservation,  133. 

(juapaw,  115. 
Quapaw  Agency,  115. 
Quatsino,  70. 
Quilliute,  104. 
Quinaielt,  115. 
Quoratean  Family,  71. 

Race,  Antiquity  of,  1. 

Records,  Oral,  13. 

Red  Indian,  53. 

Red  Man  and  the  White,  The,  173. 

Rees,  j8. 

Remnants,  137. 

Reservations,  The,  75. 

Reservation  Life,  141. 

Reservation  White  Mountain,  87. 

Reverence  for  Earth,  i;. 

Reverence  for  Thunder,  17. 

Ritual,  Religious,  13. 

Rosebud  Agency,  iio. 

Rosebud  Reservation,  100. 

Round  Valley  Agency,  117. 

Sac  and  Fox  Agency  (Okl),  117,  118. 

Sac  and  Fox  Agency  (la),  1 19. 

Sacrifice  to  Evening  Star,  16. 

Salinan  Family,  71. 

Salishan  Family,  62. 

Salish  Stock,  63. 

Sandia,  62,  1 14. 

San  Carlos  Agency,  87,  uo. 

San  Carlos  Reservaticn,  120. 

San  Felipe,  62,  113. 

San  Ildefonso,  62,  114. 

San  Juan,  62,  113. 

San  Xavier  Reservation,  109. 


Santa  Ana,  62,  114. 

Santa  Clara,  62,  113. 

Santec  Agency,  121. 

Santo  Domingo,  62,  114. 

Sastean  Family,  71. 

School  Statistics,  157. 

Schools.     (See  Agencies.) 

Scott,  Capt.  H.  L.,  76. 

Seemunah,  62. 

Senecu,  62. 

Separation,  Causes  of,  49. 

Serian  Family,  63. 

Shahaptian  Family,  63. 

Shoshone  Agency,  123. 

Shoshonean  Family,  62,  64, 

Shoshonean  Linguistic  Stock,  59. 

Shoshoni,  63,  65,  90. 

Sia,  62. 

Sibley,  Major,  57,  66. 

Siletz  Agency,  124. 

Sinnaker,  57. 

Siouan  Family,  65. 

Sioux,  Migration  of,  65. 

Sioux  Migration,  Evidence  of,  66. 

Sisseton  Agency,  124. 

Six  Nations,  56,  57. 

Six  Nations  of  the  Iroquois,  105. 

Skittagetan  Family,  69,  70. 

Snaku  Dance,  63. 

Snakes,  Peace  with  the,  73. 

Spotted  Horse,  31. 

Standing  Rock  Agency,  126. 

Standing  Rock  Reservation,  126. 

Standing  Rock  Sioux,  127. 

Stick  Game,  34. 

St.  Labre's  Mission,  128. 

Stories,  13. 

St.  Regis  Reservation,  105. 

Sun,  16,  18. 

Sun,  Culture  Hero,  16. 

Sun  Dance,  27. 

Sun  and  Moon  Myth,  Blackfoot,  45. 

Sun's  Road,  11. 

Supernatural  Powers  of  Buffalo,  34. 

Sweat  Lodges,  21. 

Swinomish  Reservation,  128. 

Takilman  Family,  72. 
Tafioan  Family,  62. 
Taos,  62,  114. 


^ 


If 


183 


THE  INDIANS  OF  TODAY 


Territory  of  the  Huida,  6y. 
Territory  Occupied  by  Stocks,  50. 
Tesuiiuc,  6 J,  114. 
Thunder  Bird,  17,  iH,  19. 
Thunder  Ceremonial,  17. 
Thunder,  Reverence  for,  17. 
Titntuiuunan  Family,  59,  69. 
Tfnne,  51. 
Tiriiwa,  ai,  13. 
Tonawanda  Reservation,  105. 
Tongue  River  Reservation,  1J7. 
Tonikan  Family,  69. 
Tonkawan  Family,  69. 
Tradition  of  the  Creation,  14. 
Traditions,  14. 
Traditions  of  Pawnees,  53. 
Travois,  3. 
Tribal  Namks: 

Absentee  Shawnee,  118. 

Akansea,  66. 

Arkansaw,  68. 

Arapaho,  2,  50,  78,  123. 

Apache,  5a,  60,  71,  97,  110. 

Apache,  Chiracahua,  87. 

Apache,  Jicaiilla,  97. 

Apache,  Mescalero,  100. 

Apache,  Mojave,  80,  130. 

Apache  Prisoners,  76. 

Apache,  Tonto,  71. 

Apache,  White  Mountain,  87. 

Apache,  Yuma,  71. 

Arikara,  53,  90. 

Assinaboine,  68,  88,  89,  91 

Aztecs,  53,  64. 

Bannock,  65,  90,  99. 

Bella  Bella,  70. 

Beothuk,  53. 

Big  Cypress  Seminoles,  laa. 

Biloxi,  68. 

Blackfeet  Sioux,  i  a6. 

Blackfoot,  2,  16,  18,  19,  14,  50,  60,  63. 

Blood,  77. 

Brul6  Sioux,  100,  116. 

Caddo,  S3,  98. 

Catawba,  67,  140.  •' 

Cayuga,  56,  105. 

Cayuse,  89,  129. 

Chehalis,  115. 

Chemehuevi,  65,  80. 

Cherokee,  56,  130. 


Tkihal  Namks — ConttHUfii. 

Cheyenne,  1,  u,  16,  11,  50,  78. 

Cheyenne,  Northern,  5,  109,  117. 

Chikasa,  59,  130. 

Chimchuevi,  80,  81. 

Chippewa,  95,  135,  137. 

Chip|)ewa,  Fond  du  Lac,  135, 

Chippewa,  Mille  Lacs,  1,55. 

Chippewa,  Mississippi,  yO,  135, 

Chippewa,  Munsee  ami,  111. 

Chip])cwa,  Pembina,  135. 

Chippewa,  Pillajjer,  96,  135. 

Chippewa,  Red  Lake,  96. 

Chippewa,  Rice  Lake,  95. 

Chippewa,  Turtle  Mountain,  84. 

Chippewa  in  Michigan,  137. 

Chippewyan,  51. 

Chiracahua  Apache,  87. 

Choctaw,  52,  59,  130. 

Citizen  Pottawatomi,  1 1 7. 

Clackania,  9a. 

Clallam,  115. 

Cocopa,  70. 

Coeur  d'Alenes,  81. 

Columbia,  81. 

Colville,  81. 

Comanche,  57,  65,  97. 

Concow,  117. 

Cow  Creek,  9a. 

Cow  Creek  Seminoles,  laa. 

Creek,  59,  69,  130. 

"Croatans, "  140. 

Crow,  48,  68,  8a. 

Dakota,  19,  65. 

Delaware,  98,  130. 

Digger,  64,  85. 

D'wamish,  ia8. 

Eastern  Cherokee,  85. 

Eastern  Shawnee,  115. 

Eskimo,  51,  55,  140. 

Flandreau  Sioux,  lai. 

Flathead,  63,  86. 

Fond  du  Lac  Chippewa,  135. 

Gayhead  Indians,  139. 

Gosiute,  65. 

Gros  Ventres  of  the  Prairie,  88. 

Gros  Ventres  of  the  Village,  68,  90. 

Havasupai,  70. 

Hoh,  104. 

Hoopa,  94. 


m 

1^ 

T  q 

H 

ill 

^Km 

i:l 

i 

m 

INDEX 


183 


i*>. 


119. 


Tribal  Namoi — Conlmutd. 
Mopi,  6a,  65. 
Huiklupai,  94, 
Hueco,  53,  98. 
Hunitulip,  1 15. 
Hiinkpiipa  Sioux,  116. 
Huron,  137. 
Innuit,  55. 
lowu,  6H,  III,  118. 
Iroquois,  56,  bb,  67. 
Jicarillii  Apache,  97. 
Kiiibab,  Shebit  and, 
Kiilispel,  63,  Hi,  86. 
Kansa,  6K,  107. 
Kaw,  68,  107. 
Kickapoo,  in. 
Kickapoo,  Mexican, 
Kichai,  53,  97. 
Kiowa,  57,  97. 
Klamath,  59,  94,  98. 
Klikitat,  136. 
Kutenai,  58,  86. 
Kwakiutl,  70. 
Kwapa,  66,  67,  68. 
Lake,  81. 

Little  Lake  and  Redwood,  117. 
Lower  Yanktonnai  Sioux,  83. 
Luckamnte,  92. 
Lununi,  ia8. 
Makah,  104. 
Malisit,  139. 
Mandan,  65,  66,  68,  90. 
Maricopa,  60,  70,  108. 
Mary's  River,  92. 
Mataponny,  92. 
Mndawakanton  Sioux,  100. 
Menoinini,  92. 
Mescalero,  Apache,  100. 
Metlakahtla,  54. 
Mexican  Kickapoo,  199. 
Miami,  1 15,  137. 
Miami  Seminole,  122. 
Middle  Spokane,  8r. 
Millc  Lacs  Chippewa,  135. 
Minitari,  68,  go. 
Minneconjou,  79. 
Mission  Indians,  loi. 
Mississippi  Chippewa,  96. 
Missouria,  68. 
Missouria,  Oto  and,  no. 


Tribal  Names — Continufil 

Modoc,  59,  98,  99,  115. 

Mohave,  70. 

Mohave  Apache,  71. 

Mohawk,  56. 

Mohegan,  139. 

Mojave,  80,  lao. 

Moki,  62,  65,  103. 

Molale,  70. 

Montauk,  139. 

Muckleshoot,  128. 

Munci,  92. 

Munsce  and  Chippewa,  iii. 

Nanticoke,  137, 

Narragansett,  140. 

Natches,  60. 

Navajo,  52,  loa. 

Nespilem,  81. 

Neutral  Nation,  56. 

Nez  Percys,  63,  81,  io6. 

Niscjually,  115. 

Nomelackie,  120. 

Nooksaak,  138. 

Northern  Cheyenne,  5,  109,  la;. 

Nottoway,  66. 

Ogallala,  68. 

Ojibwa,  2. 

Okanagan,  81. 

Omaha,  n,  12,  68,  107. 

Onondaga,  56,  105. 

Oneida,  56,  92,  105. 

Osage,  66,  67,  68,  107. 

Ottawa,  115. 

Oto,  68. 

Oto  and  Missouria,  no. 

Paloos,  136. 

Pamunkey,  138. 

Papago,  60,  108. 

Paviotso,  65. 

Pawnee,  16,  21,  22,  27,  34,  53,  1,0. 

Pawnee  Ldup,  28. 

Pembina  Chippewa,  135. 

Pend  d'Oreille,  63,  86. 

Penobscot,  139. 

Peoria,  115. 

Piegan,  5,  77. 

Pillager  Chippewa,  96, 

Pima,  60,  108. 

Pitt  River,  99,  n7. 

Piute,  65,  80,  99,  104,  133,  134. 


1 84 


THE  INDIANS  OF  TO-DAY 


I 

] 


t    !i 


Trihai.  Nambu — Continutd. 
Poonpiktuck,  i.)9. 
Ponca,  68,  1 10,  I ji. 
I'ort  MiidiAon,  liH. 
Pottuwatomi,  ij;,  139. 
Pottaw.itomi,  Citixen,  117. 
Pottawatomi,  Prairie  Band  of,  iii. 
Pueblo,  61,  loj 
Piiyiillup,  115. 
(Juapaw,  1 1 5. 
(^uatsino,  70. 
(Juilliute,  104. 
(Juinniclt,  115. 
"Red  Bones,"  140. 
Red  Lake  Chippewa,  96. 
Redwood,  Little  Lake  and,  117. 
Ree,  a8. 

Rice  Lake  Chippewa,  js. 
Rofjuc  River,  9a. 
Rosebud  Sioux,  99. 
Sac  and  Pox  (Okl),  118. 
Sac  and  Fox  of  Missouri,  iii. 
Sac  and  Fox  >if  Iowa,  119. 
Santee  Sioux,  m. 
Santium,  92. 
Sans  Foil,  81. 
Sarsi,  60, 

Seminole,  59,   130. 
Seminole,  Big  Cypress,  isa. 
Seminole,  Cow  Creek,  122. 
Seminoles  in  F'lorida,  lai. 
Seminole,  Miami,  113. 
Seneca,  56,  57,  105,  115. 
Shawnee,  130. 
Shawnee,  Absentee,  117. 
Shawnee,  Eastern,  1  r  5. 
Shebit  and  Kaibah,  122. 
Sheep  Eater,  99. 
Shinnecock,  139. 
Shoal  Water,  115. 
Shoshoni,  65,  90,99,  123.  138. 
Sioux,  65,  68,  79,  84,  9r,  109. 
Sioux,  Blackfeet,  79,  126. 
Sioux,  Brul^,  100,  116. 
Sioux,  Flandreau,  121. 
Sioux,  Hunkpapa,  126. 
Sioux,  Lower  Yanktonnai,  83. 
Sioux,  Medawakanton,  100. 
Sioux,  Minneconjou,  79. 
Sioux,  Rosebud,  99 


Tribal  Namm — Continutd. 
Sioux,  Santee,  lai. 
Sioux,  Sans  Arc,  79. 
Sioux,  Standing  Rock,  it6. 
Sioux,  Sisseton,  124. 
Sioux,  Two  Kettle,  79. 
Sioux,  Vanktonnai,  126. 
Sioux,  Vanktonnai,  Lower,  8j. 
Sioux,  Wahpeton,  124. 
Spokane,  63,  86. 
Spokane,  Middle,  81. 
Spokane,  Upper,  81. 
S(|uaxin,  1 15. 

StaMdin((  Rock  Sioux,  ia6,  117. 
Stockbridge,  92. 
St.  Regis,  105. 
S'Kokomish,  1 15. 
Snakes,  48. 
Southern  Ute,  125. 
Sisseton  Sioux,  124. 
Swinomish,  128. 
Taensa,  60. 
Tagish,  58. 
Tawaconi,  97. 
Tawakoni,  53,  98. 
Tenino,  134. 
Tlinkit,  58. 
Tonkawa,  110. 
Tonto  Apache,  71. 
Tulalip,   128. 
Tule  River  Indians,  101. 
Turtle  Mountain  Chippewa,  84. 
Tuscarora  Indians,  56,  66,  105, 
Tutelo,  68. 
Uchi,  69. 
Ukie,  1 17. 
Umatilla,  129. 
Umpqua,  92. 
Uncompahgre,  129. 
Upper  Spokane,  81. 
Ute.  65. 

Utes,  Southern,  125. 
Utes,  Uinta,  129. 
Utes,  Uncompahgre,  129. 
Utes,  White  River,  129. 
Wahpeton  Sioux,  124. 
Walapai,  70. 
Walla  Walla,  129. 
Wapanaki,  139. 
Wapeto,  90. 


INDEX 


Tbihai.  S KMM—CttHtinuft/. 

Wiirm  Spring,  134 

Wasco,  IJ4,  136. 

Wenatchie,  136 

White  Mountain  Apache,  iia 

Winnebago,  87,  107,  139. 

Wichita,  53,  97. 

Woccon,  68. 

Wyunilot,  1 15. 

Wyliickie,  1 1 7. 

Yiikiiiiii,  137, 

Vain  Hill,  96. 

Yankton,  68. 

Yanlcton  Sioux,  136. 

Yanktonnai  Sioux,  ia6. 

Yava  Siipais,  94. 

Yuclulaht,  70. 

Yuma.  70,  71,  101,  loj. 

Yuma  Apache,  71. 
Tribes,  Aijfonquian,  51. 
Tribes  t.f  Dakota  Stock,  67. 
TurtU-  Mountain  Siil)-agency,  85. 

Uchean  Family,  69. 
Uncompahgre  Utes,  129. 
Underwater  Monsters,  17,  18. 
Under  Water  People,  44. ' 
Uinta  Reservation,  129. 
Uinta  Utes,  119. 
Uto-aztecan  Family,  59,  64. 

Waillatpuan  Family,  70. 


185 


Wakashan  Family,  70. 

Wapuchu«eamma,  61, 

War,  10. 

War  for  Gain,  10. 

War,  Nez  I'ercdn,  63. 

Warfare,  Indian,  5. 

Washoan  Family,  72. 

Weit-spekan  Family,  jn. 

Whisky  Trathc.     (See  ARenclos.) 

White  IJarth  Agency,  96. 

White  Mountain  Apache,  87. 

White  Mountain  Reservation,  87. 

White  Neighbors,  Influence  of,  5. 

White  River  Utes,  129. 

Winneliago  Agency,  Omaha  and,  107. 

Winter  Man,  17,  18. 

Wishoskan  Family,  7a. 

Work.     (See  Agencies.) 

Work  and  a  Livelihood,  170. 

Work,  Limited  Opportunities  for,  4. 

Yakonan  Family,  70 
Yanan  Family   55, 
Young  Dog's  Dance,  25,  j;. 
Young,  Instruction  of,  13. 
Yukian  Family,  72. 
Yuman  Family,  70. 

Zia,  114. 
Ziamma,  62. 
Zufli,  144,  146. 
Zufiian  Family,  71. 


Ill  ■ 


if 


PRINTEO  BV  R.  R.  DONNELLtY 
AND  SONS  COMI'ANY  AT  THt 
lAKESIDF  l-RKSS,  CHICAGO,  ILL. 


